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Hire Dr. Vikas A.

India

Expert in medical statistics using SPSS, Pedigree charts, medical literature review,

Profile Summary

My undergraduate education at T. John College, Bangalore University, Bangalore, has helped me understand my fields of interest and my academic strengths and weaknesses. I graduated in June 2009 with a degree in M. Sc Biochemistry, from the Bangalore University. I volunteered to take part in Seminars and Symposia in and outside College, where I could bring out my presentation and oratorical skills in my reports and speech. I remain indebted to my teachers and professors who have fostered in me a flair and flamboyance for higher education. During September 2009 – December 2010, I worked as a Junior Research Fellow in Dr. Dipankar Nandi’s laboratory at the Indian Institute of Science, India. Here, I learned basic molecular biology techniques, cloning strategies, protein purification techniques, animal handling and to analyze and troubleshoot the experimental failures. In the lab, I worked alongside with a group studying the structure-function relationship of Peptidase N (PepN) in E. coli. Pep N is a major aminoendopeptidase and has been studied extensively. It plays a role in downstream events of cytosolic protein degradation. My responsibilities in the lab included purification of both wild type and mutant PepN using a series of chromatography columns – DEAE, Q-sepharose and butyl toyopearl. I also explored the expression profile of PepN in stress and stress-free conditions using Western blot analysis. Apart from this, I investigated the substrate specificity of novel peptidases, using respective knockout strains of E. coli (DH5α) as a tool. Through in silico analysis, I chose a few genes encoding putative peptidases. I cloned these genes in pBAD24, an over-expression system and compared the substrate specificity with the respective knockout strains. My scientific interests gained fresh impetus when I was recruited as a ‘Biochemist’ (April 2011-April 2012) at National Institute of Mental Health And Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, an institute of National Importance, for patient care and academic pursuit in the frontier area of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences. Here I worked for an Indo-US project, “Incidence and determinants of metabolic complications of antipsychotics in community-dwelling schizophrenia patients in India”. As a part of the project, I studied the pharmacological and genetic factors associated with metabolic abnormalities in patients with schizophrenia. I prospectively followed up untreated patients with schizophrenia (treated/untreated with antipsychotics) in a rural South Indian community for 12 months. Antipsychotic induced complications like Obesity, Insulin Resistance, Dyslipidemia could be caused in various ways one of which is receptor antagonism. I explored (a) -759C/T Polymorphism of 5HT2C receptors; (b) -2548G/A Polymorphism of Leptin gene; (c) -1291C/G Polymorphism of alpha2-adrenergic receptors by PCR-RFLP based genotyping as there is evidence of their involvement in antipsychotic-induced metabolic complications. The results of the study are likely to inform us more about the predictors of metabolic complications during the treatment and identify cases that might be at higher risk of developing metabolic abnormalities so that appropriate treatment and prevention plans could be implemented by clinicians. This study could potentially inform us of the possible ways of striking a balance between optimal outcomes and complications during antipsychotic treatment of schizophrenia. Later I was enrolled in the Ph. D programme in Psychiatry, NIMHANS (2012 –2019). As a part of my Ph. D. Thesis, titled, “Parental consanguinity and its association with metabolic abnormality in patients with schizophrenia: A clinical and genetic investigation”, I have studied different aspects of genetics and metabolic abnormalities in community-dwelling patients with schizophrenia. One area of my research work compared the rate of parental consanguinity between patients with schizophrenia living in a rural community in South India and healthy controls in the same community. The other area of research was an attempt to gain insights into the differential effect of consanguinity on metabolic syndrome. Clinical interview method (‘self-report’) along with DNA based rates was used for assessment of parental consanguinity. I used genome-wide genetic variants (N=384 Autosomal SNPs, LD, r2 < 0.9) to calculate coefficients of inbreeding ‘f’. The SNPs used for this study are based on the HapMap database (GIH). I used Fluidigm EP1 SNP type assay and ‘f’ was calculated with the help of PLINK, version 1.9. Parental consanguinity was defined by ‘f’ ≥ 0.0156. ‘f’ was compared between the extreme phenotypes; affected (schizophrenia) and unaffected (no psychotic disorder) individuals. My work also included outpatient services, home visits, recording weight, blood pressure, pulse and ensuring safety and comfort of the participants, appropriate management of cases, obtaining Informed Consent Form apart from other related duties assigned by the Principal Investigator. I am presently working as an independent scientific editor and translator. In this role, my work involves the developmental editing of biomedical research booklets, brochures and project proposals apart from translating scientific documents. My work experience has helped me to achieve the right balance needed to work independently but more significantly contribute as an individual to the team. My research experience to date has been a step towards my goal of contributing to science. I would now like to expand my skills, interact with remarkable individuals who are working in related fields and also wish to work towards bridging the gap between scientists and the common man by utilizing my writing skills. In the long run, I would like to do extensive work in medical/clinical genetics and realistic genetic counseling.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ★ Genome Sequencing
• ★ Medical Genetics
• ★ Medical Writing

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Consulting
• Data & AI
• Product Development

Writing Clinical Trial Documentation, Medical Writing, Non-Medical Regulatory Writing, Technical Writing, Business & Legal Writing, Copywriting, Creative Writing, Audio Transcription, General Proofreading & Editing, Translation

Research Market Research, Feasibility Study, Technology Scouting, Fact Checking, Gray Literature Search, Scientific and Technical Research, Secondary Data Collection

Consulting Healthcare Consulting, Scientific and Technical Consulting

Data & AI Statistical Analysis, Image Processing, Image Analysis, Data Visualization, Data Mining, Data Cleaning, Data Processing, Data Insights

Product Development Formulation

Work Experience

Scientist - C (Medical Genetics)

Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences

July 2022 - Present

Independent writer, editor & Translator

Few other companies, India

October 2018 - Present

Genome Analyst

Neuberg Supratech Reference Laboratories

November 2021 - June 2022

Biochemist

National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences

April 2011 - April 2012

Project Assistant

National Brain Research Centre

January 2011 - March 2011

Junior Research Fellow

Indian Institute of Science

September 2009 - December 2010

Education

Ph. D. Thesis, titled, “Parental consanguinity and its association with metabolic abnormality in patients with schizophrenia: A clinical and genetic investigation”

National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences

December 2012 - September 2019

M. Sc Biochemistry

Bangalore University

July 2007 - June 2009

B. Sc Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Genetics

Bangalore University

August 2004 - June 2007

Certifications

• Certification details not provided.

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Vikas Agarwal, Jagadisha Thirthalli, Channaveerachari Naveen Kumar, Rita Christopher, Gautham U Arunachal, K Shanivaram Reddy, Vikram Singh Rawat, Bangalore N Gangadhar, Joel Wood, Vishwajit Nimgaonkar(2021). Parental consanguinity among patients with schizophrenia in a rural community of South India: A clinical and genetic investigation . Asian Journal of Psychiatry. 64. p. 102814. Elsevier {BV}

(2018). Six months' course and outcome of metabolic abnormalities in a cohort of patients with schizophrenia in rural India . Schizophrenia research.

(2017). Prevalence and predictors of metabolic syndrome in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls: A study in rural South Indian population . Schizophrenia research.

(2012). Catalytic activity of Peptidase N is required for adaptation of Escherichia coli to nutritional downshift and high temperature stress . Microbiological research.

CONFERENCE POSTER

Effect of yoga on serum Brain-derived neurotrophic factor in drug naive/drug free patients with depression: regularity of yoga. the 19th International Conference on Frontiers in Yoga Research and its' Application (INCOFYRA 2011).

Insulin resistance and beta cell function in schizophrenic patients. the 43RD National Conference of Association of Clinical Biochemists of India.