Good day, Ellango Ramasamy. I'm Arjun. I've had a look through your background and your professional record. I'm interested in hearing more about your work and how you see yourself fitting in here with our faculty. Ready to start?

Yes.

Kindly provide a brief introduction of your professional journey in academia.

Hi uh myself Elango Ramaswamy. I completed my masters in uh, biohemistry.

Uh, from my master's, uh, I entered into the research field. So where I worked as, umm, a research technician, learning various molecular tools and the bioinformatics.

And I registered my PhD in biotechnology and covers the area of molecular biology and the bioinformatics. I work mostly on the small RNAs, micro RNI and the RNI gene silencing. I applied these tools in pest management.

After completing my PhD, I got worked in various places. So I was a bioinformatician in transcriptome analysis, metagenomics and bacterials.

And for the last three out of years I've been working in Germany in a cancer bioinformatics.

And I also done my post doctoral in USA and published their paper in Applause Genetics.

Professor

I have.

Thank you for the clarification. Let’s proceed with evaluating your expertise for the role of a Cancer Bioinformatics Professor. We'll review specific skills and areas relevant to the position. Starting with your background in cancer bioinformatics research: could you provide an overview of how your expertise and past projects align with the field of cancer bioinformatics?

I have developed a very good skill in analyzing NGS data, particularly multi omics, so like including a genomic transcriptomic. I just started working in a National Center for tumor disease, Germany where I work as a bioinformatician mostly focusing on the precision oncology.

Yeah.

And also the diagnostic marker development for the rare inherited cancer disease.

I've been working on on the precious oncology for the understanding the drug efficiency for the treatments for the various solid tumors.

And for the RNA splicing, particularly the area which I'm most interested and I've been working for since few years.

Uh, RNA splicing, uh, which uh, has any dysregulation leads into the umm?

Cancer oncogenesis and their progression and therapy response.

I've been seeing in India it's like.

The cancer patient cases are increasing as per the ICM or NCRP report in 2025. Breast cancer is one of the top cancer which is reported.

And I like to study on the breast cancer and the pancreatic cancer.

To understanding that how this RNA splicing dysregulation.

And the developments and and playing a role in the therapy response.

Caused the tumour progressions.

Thank you, Professor, for elaborating on your focus and expertise in cancer bioinformatics, particularly in areas like precision oncology, diagnostic marker development, and RNA splicing dysregulation in cancer. It’s clear you are working at the cutting edge of research. Let’s examine further. How do you approach integrating multi-omics data—genomics, transcriptomics, and potentially proteomics—into creating diagnostic markers or therapeutic targets for rare cancers? Could you briefly outline your methodological framework?

Yes, before I going to explain the methodological.

Protocol. I'd like to expand some background in the research like for example the breast cancer is well studied and clinical background, but still in their variation in the therapy response. That brings up the curiosity to study both on the somatic splice site variations and also in the GEM line to addressing in the.

Uh, particularly in the genes like uh oncogene or a tumor suppressor genes.

This I'm mainly going to fo focus on that.

And the methodology which I'm going to follow is like initially I start with the RNA transcriptome, either it is a bulk or a panel target RNA sequencing. Through that I will able to find the outlier like vibrant splicing expressions. Then I will follow the various tools to standardize the pipeline for identifying those. In a genomic level where this spice site locations.

And validating their pathogenicity level, then taking those variant as a potential biomarker for developing kit for the diagnosis to not only for diagnosis. And further I have to go and study with collaborated with the clinicians and I plan to study on their how this splice site dysfunctions play a role in the therapy responses.

And here I'm going to.

Thank you,

Please continue.

Here I'm going to including like transcriptome genome of.

Full long sequencing to understanding the entire RNA splicing UH information, how it is playing a crucial role in the uh rat uh, inherited disease and also uh in their therapy response for the uh, known cancers.

Understood, Professor. You have outlined a very thoughtful and detailed framework for integrating transcriptomic and genomic approaches to study RNA splicing and its implications in cancer. This combination of long-read sequencing, variant analysis, and clinical collaboration demonstrates a strong translational focus on diagnostic and therapeutic advancements. Moving on to teaching: how would you structure a theory and laboratory course on cancer bioinformatics for graduate students, ensuring that students with varied levels of experience can engage effectively?

Yup, I've been, uh, interested in a teaching, umm, I have a, I have a, participated in various workshops and I, I serve as a resource person for conducting the workshops for the RNA sequencing data analysis. Uh, in, in our recent days, NGS technology is very popular and people has to be know and understanding that how to handle and analyze those data. As for the students level, it is.

Curiosity to integrated the computational biology in their biological or biotechnological framework.

Particularly on the Cancer Research, the students want to know about it like how the precision oncology is ongoing in the hospitals and the research institutes. They will get an idea to work on the NGS data.

So I plan to conduct a taking a classes for the cancer bioinformatics and NGS data analysis and.

And also like I like to take classes on the molecular genetics.

For the clinical relevant database building.

And.

I've been happy, uh, to recruit our uh, PhD researchers and uh, uh, the master students, uh.

So bringing a new mindset to the Cancer Research field, which gives a great potential for the research team.

Thank you, Professor, for sharing your enthusiasm for teaching and mentorship. It’s evident you value fostering curiosity and equipping students with practical skills, particularly in computational biology and cancer research. Incorporating hands-on workshops, relevant case studies, and emerging technologies into structured coursework is undoubtedly impactful. Let me pivot towards your contributions to guiding student projects and research. Could you provide examples of how you mentor students in choosing impactful research topics and ensuring rigor in their methodologies?

Yes, During my PhD terms, we have a, we have a small team of 20 members working on the molecular biology and the bioinformatics, where we're getting a lot of the younger students from the various background like microbiology, biotechnology and biomedical genetics. I've been.

Assigned to handle the few of the students and there I start teaching them and sharing the.

Laboratory protocol and expanding the methodology what we are implying in the laboratory Albania Co guide for them, and I actively participated in classes and workshops.

Or my colleague who was have no idea in computational biology, if they want to be collaborated with me for the further work, I will explain them what is their expected hypothesis and what are the structured bioinformatic pipelines which I'm going to use for analyzing those NGS data.

I just explaining from the basics to the methodology. What is in the current procedure is there and in a computational side I can explain if if you're non computational students.

Then after my PhD, even in a post doc, I continue to support the PhD students in the laboratory for their computational works, particularly on the NGS data analysis and even also in the understanding the NGS like computational biology work in cancer genetic research.

My recent campus where I got the opportunity to work with the clinicians, even even a doctor's who has a very less idea about the how the NGS data analysis they will get what are the.

Limitations and what are the scopes with the NGS? So how this precision oncology is so for quite good developing in the area of Cancer Research?

Thank you, Professor, for detailing your mentorship experience. It is admirable that you have not only guided students from diverse academic backgrounds but also collaborated with professionals like clinicians to bridge gaps in computational biology understanding. Your inclusive approach to both theoretical and methodological teaching, along with hands-on mentorship, clearly demonstrates your capability in nurturing interdisciplinary talent. Let’s now discuss your publication track record. How do you ensure your work contributes meaningfully to advancing the field and aligns with the expectations of reputed journals?

Yes, country like India where the cancer patients numbers are growing drastically throughout this recent period of time, we can see from the ICM or NCRP reports.

There are Worrell and the lung cancer, breast cancer or like it's more in the millions of people are getting affected and the treatment responses are also we are getting better and we have a very good advanced. Treatments, chemotherapy or radiologic.

Now they are introducing many places of this precision oncology till we are allowed to answer for the. Like finding a yearly finding of this tumor disease and also for to develop. Very good therapy where some of the cancer, cancer that is, end up in non responsive to the existing therapies.

So we can, we have to understand the molecular genetic, uh, background in that. And we want to unify more on the precision oncology electric, uh, collaborated with, uh, uh, uh, local clinicians and, uh, uh, understanding their case study and their report and bringing my knowledge of computational expertise to, uh, in RNA splicing, particularly, uh, like to.

Getting a good fund for the research with supportive of the supporting the students and establishing a.

Team going to focus mainly on how this RNA splicing, splicing dysfunctions place a very crucial role in rare inherited disease and the cancers which has shows no response particularly like breast cancer. We have a very good research and the information is there, but still there is a many cases of a non response, non therapy response cases.

Uh, cans are like a pancreatitis which, which is a very less, uh, common in India, but uh, still it is overly studied and uh, there is a lot of, uh, spice site pathogenic variant has been identified. So these are taking a background to work on this aspect and developing A-Team which aim towards the.

And like.

Yearly diagnostic of this tumor.

And understanding their individual base like based precision therapy that supports for the future also.

Thank you, Professor, for emphasizing the need for meaningful research contributions, especially in the context of precision oncology and RNA splicing. It’s evident that your focus on molecular genetics, particularly for rare cancers and therapy-resistant cases, underscores your commitment to addressing critical gaps in cancer treatment. Your collaborative vision with clinicians and your emphasis on team development highlights significant potential to advance research and diagnostics. Finally, I’d like to touch on your experience in industry projects or consultancy relevant to cancer bioinformatics. Have you worked on collaborations with healthcare or biotechnology companies, or contributed to initiatives outside academic research? If so, could you share how those experiences complement your academic contributions?

Yeah, that's a very interesting question. Like during my PhD time onwards, how this basic research we're going to get translated into the.

Field of Health Science and how it is going to support for the humanity. So towards on that direction I get a lot of ideas and I collaborated with different companies. Both in our healthcare and non healthcare.

Works.

The researcher will has addressing the key questions which is raised on the case reports or the research studies, what they were working on. And they will just not only do the basic research and also try to solve the mysterious or like a difficult questions in our research and bringing up in the solution, the solution we have to translate them into the product. Like developing a kit to identify.

Or uh, diagnosing a disease, umm, and so understanding the current markets, uh, current clinical scenario of the therapy responses from the patients to understanding the case studies.

My previous campus where I work in cancer, cancer bioinformatician, we have been collaborated with the industries like we are getting several ready to estimation kits, how that kits are working and a different case.

Supporting for the human health.

Thank you, Professor. You've provided a compelling overview of how your collaboration with industries bridges the gap between academic research and practical applications in healthcare. Your experience in translating research into diagnostic kits, resolving clinical challenges, and contributing to health innovations strongly complements your academic endeavors, showcasing the wider impact of your work beyond academia. With this, I believe we’ve covered the comprehensive scope of your academic, teaching, research, and industry expertise relevant to the Cancer Bioinformatics Professor role. Is there anything else you’d like to add or emphasize before we conclude?

I have been working in the various research field in the pathology and the cancer genetics.

I've been expecting from the VIT where it is they they already providing disciplinary supports. I just want to see that how they're going to support for me inter collaborations with the industries and clinical clinicians.

Professor, it's commendable that you have a clear vision of fostering interdisciplinary collaborations between academia, industry, and clinical practice. Institutions like VIT do value initiatives that build such bridges, and your expertise aligns well with fostering impactful partnerships. If there’s nothing further you'd like to discuss, we can look to conclude this session—do let me know if you're ready to proceed.

Sorry to interrupt, we're down to the last 5 minutes.

Yeah, that's a great to talk and discuss my ideas and research and the teaching which where I looking for better placement at the VIT and establish my work and collaborative with the professors and outside the campus like a clinician and the industries. This is what my expectations.

I hope I will meet the meet your expectation for this question and thank you for discussing here.

Thank you, Professor, for sharing your insights, experience, and expectations with such clarity and depth. Your contributions to cancer bioinformatics, teaching, and interdisciplinary collaboration are truly impressive. If you're ready, I can officially conclude the session. Could you confirm if you'd like me to do so?

Yes, we can end up this session.