Purva Vats, Ph.D.

Associate Research Scientist

Develops novel clinical assays in the areas of cancer and infectious diseases, building amplicon, genomic and metagenomic libraries using various approaches to sequence on variety of platforms (illumina as well as PacBio) to study the molecular diagnosis of genetic disorders.

I have worked in the area of microbiology and molecular biology for over 15 years during which time I focused on the study of cell division and cytoskeletal regulation in prokaryotes. I have extensive experience in microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, protein interaction and purification, western blotting, immuno-blotting, microscopy [which includes immunofluorescence microscopy (single label and double label), epi-fluorescence, phase contrast, single molecule fluorescence microscopy, PALM FRAP].  I have an expertise in bacterial cell imaging and bacterial genetics research.

My current research is in the area of microbiome where I am primarily involved in managing several projects and supervises wet lab. As a result of my research experiences, I am aware of the importance of frequent communication among project members and of constructing a realistic research plan and timeline.  I am also involved in making various types of amplicon as well as whole-genome shot gun libraries to sequence on different illumina platforms (MiSeq, NextSeq, HiSeq) and PacBio to study the relationship between microbiome and several diseases.

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Education and experience

Education:

  • Institute of Microbial Technology, Ph.D. 01/2003 Microbiology/Biotechnology
    (Jawaharlal Nehru University, New
    Delhi, India)
  • Dept. of Microbiology, Panjab Masters in Science 08/1997 Microbiology (Honors)
    University, Chandigarh, INDIA
  • Dept. of Microbiology, Panjab Bachelor in Science 08/1994 Microbiology (Honors)
    University, Chandigarh, INDIA

Professional Experience:

  • June 2014-Present : Associate Research Scientist, The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, Farmington, Connecticut
  • Sep 2010-May 2014 : Research Associate Scientist-I, Dept. of Molecular Biology and Biophysics (previously known as the Dept. of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology), University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut
  • Sep 2004-Aug 2010: Post-doctoral research fellow, laboratory of Prof. Lawrence Rothfield, Dept. of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut
  • Jan 2003-May 2004 : Post-doctoral research fellow, laboratory of Dr. Anand K. Bachhawat, Dept. of Molecular Biology and Yeast Genetics, Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, India
  • 2000-2003 : Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, India
  • 1998-2000: Junior Research Fellow, Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh, India

Awards and Honors

  • 2009 Selection of “E.coli cytoskeleton micrograph” on the cover page of Molecular Microbiology.
  • 2007 Selection of research article, “Duplication and segregation of the actin (MreB) cytoskeleton during the prokaryotic cell cycle,” published in Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences USA, by Faculty of 1000 Biology, which comprehensively and systematically highlights and reviews the most interesting papers published in the biological sciences, based on the recommendations of a faculty of well over 2,300 selected leading researchers.
  • 2000-2003 Awarded National Senior Research Fellowship by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (premium funding agency), government of India
  • 1998-2000 Awarded National Junior Research Fellowship by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, government of India
  • 1997 Awarded the University Gold Medal for standing first in the Masters of Sciences (Honors) program in Microbiology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
  • 1994 Awarded the University Gold Medal for standing first in Bachelors of Sciences (Honors) Microbiology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India
  • 1992-1997 Awarded a National Scholarship during my Bachelors (Honors) and Masters (Honors) programs, from the government of India