Smita Upamaka Email & Phone Number

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Part of Prof. Marc-André Langlois's lab and the team of multidisciplinary researchers of a pan-Canadian Network called CoVaRR-Net (Coronavirus Variants Rapid Response Network) dedicated to characterizing SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

● Prepared academic content (Life Sciences) for graduates and post-graduate students in the fields of Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Microbiology, etc. ● Conducted a front-end analysis to determine the objectives of the courses and what level of experience or knowledge could be assumed; created question papers for State/Board level entrance examinations

Navi Mumbai, India

Monoclonal Antibody Development: ● Constructed antibody expression vector and performed stable and transient transfections of these vectors into mammalian cells; screened for multiple potential clones and scaled-up these clones step-wise until roller bottle stage● Performed cell cytotoxicity assays, receptor-binding assays (using Flow Cytometry) and stability studies on the monoclonal antibodies that were developedAntibody Library Construction: ● Isolated PBMCs from multiple batches of human blood and amplified variable heavy (VH) and variable light chain (VL) from them; Cloned positive amplicons into phagemid vectors Accomplishments ● Prepared Common Technical Documents, Standard Transfer Protocols, and Standard Operating Protocols ● Awarded the “Best speaker” title among twenty participants in “Retreat”, a knowledge exchange platform. ● Selected to be a part of “Beyonders”, a program conducted by the Reliance Innovation Leadership Centre (RIL-C) that aims to create innovative leaders by coupling opportunity with innovation training ● Nominated by the Team Leader and Chief Scientific Officer for conducting theory classes for Advanced Diploma Program students of Dhirubhai Ambani Life Sciences Centre (DALC) ● Trained and mentored new employees, Advanced Diploma Program students and summer trainees in laboratory work assignments

Hyderabad Area, India

Biosimilar Analysis: ● Performed glycan analysis of numerous samples pertaining to multiple batches of the biosimilar that was being developed by the production team ● Carried out protein A leachates ELISA for monoclonal antibodies ● Conducted stability studies (real-time, accelerated and stress stability studies) of certain monoclonal antibodies at both Drug substance and Drug product stages ● Developed new efficient methods for analyzing various impurities and excipients (ex: citrate, trehalose), sialic acid in the Drug product stage of protein formulations by using HLPC

Worked on a project titled "The effect of Protein Kinase Ck2 on Microtubule Dynamics and Cell Cycle Progression – Implications in Cancer Chemotherapy" ● Screened a few inhibitors of Protein Kinase Ck2 in HeLa cells, CHO cells, and Cmd4 cell lines and assayed IC50 values of these inhibitors on the cell lines ● Analyzed the subsequent effects of the inhibitors on the microtubule network within the cell lines mentioned above using the immunofluorescence imaging technique

Master Of Technology - Mtech, Department Of Biochemistry, School Of Life Sciences,

Canadian equivalency according to World Education Services

M. Sc, Biochemistry

B.Sc, Microbiology, Biochemistry And Chemistry; Bio-Statistics