Yes, hi Arjun, I am ready. We can go.

Please start by introducing your professional journey in academia

So I am Doctor Sukanya Patra. I have completed my PhD in last 2025. Uh, inverse cooler Biomedical engineering at IITBHU. The research focuses on the best of designing and synthesis of amino acid based copolymeric nanoparticles for targeted delivery and tissue regeneration. During my six to seven years of PhD tenure, I have developed many more biomaterials, polymer nanomedicines which are targeting to various diseases like your. Healing triple negative breast cancer, inflammation and neurodegeneration and many more. So based on my academia and experience I have published. 21 peer reviewed articles. High book chapters and 11 patents I have filed for patent. Among 11 patents, 7 has been granted. Parallel to this, I have incubated my own startup that is Triphen Healthcare Private Limited at IITBU. Itself and currently now it is in the TRL seven stage which is based on the designing of the. Antimicrobial resistant antibiotics for. Treating first line. Antimicrobes. So that the. Quickly. Can be healed. With infection can be cured from the. And before joining PhD. Also I have. Experienced, uh. Of working at doctor at this laboratory for one year in quality control department. Hi, Arjun. Hi. I am audible now. Hello. Hello. Is there any problem or connection from my side?

Dr. Patra, you mentioned synthesizing amino acid-based nanoparticles for targeted delivery and tissue regeneration. When introducing these cutting-edge topics to undergraduates, how do you make complex polymer chemistry and nanomedicine approachable for students seeing them for the first time?

So the synthesis process is complex. I understand that thing, but as an undergraduate student, rather than telling them theoretically or teaching them on the. Fight board or using projector I will approach a. Blade mixture of different techniques like. Before going to the theoretical one I will generate some real life examples. Based on that I will prepare some short videos and live demonstration or small. Experiments that should be conducted in the laboratory so that rather than going through. Theoretical knowledge, they will go through the practical knowledge also, so they understand that exactly in what way polymer or. Any biomaterial or. Any nanoparticle has been designed rather than only studying the different standardized protocol mentioned in the book. Undergraduate.

You’ve supervised lab work and designed assessment tools, so you’ve likely seen students get good results without understanding the science behind them. Can you give me one example—maybe from supervising a student project or practical session—where you realized a student was following the protocol but missing the core principle, and how you addressed that in the moment?

Yes, as I have mentioned earlier and in my resume also I have mentioned that I have. Supervised 5 plus Mtech and IDD students during my PhD and Research scientist position at IIT BHU. I come to know that when a particular undergraduate or IDD uh. Mtech students join to a lab. They are much more focused to work with the existing problem or I can say the validated or established protocol present in the lab. Rather than they. Are giving their own. Input or they are not ready to develop their own critical thinking. So I have decided whoever the student supervised under me. I have decided that before jumping into a particular project I have given choice them. In what way, In what?

Uh, top topics you. Learn more rather than developing a project. After discussing 2 three times.

So you noticed students sticking to established protocols instead of thinking critically, and you responded by letting them choose how they approached problems. What happened when a student proposed a method that wasn’t standard or made a mistake—did you let them try it, or did you intervene right away?

You were saying that after a few discussions, students sometimes wanted to focus on topics to learn more rather than developing a project. Can you give me a concrete example of one student or group, what topic they chose, and how you helped them move from just learning the background to actually designing an experiment or project?

So what I have did in that case for a particular student, I have given few research articles and relevant book chapters. They have gone through that and they have. Find out few critical points not like that, only the critical gaps, many more. Learning points also. After 2-3 iteration in discussion, we concluded that these are the gaps and. Part will be reflecting a subproject. A researcher for my own project. So that simultaneously that. Person get chance to work with my. Theoretical one and.

So what I have did in that case for a particular student, I have given few research articles and relevant book chapters. They have gone through that and they have. Find out few critical points not like that, only the critical gaps, many more. Learning points also. After 2-3 iteration in discussion, we concluded that these are the gaps and. Part will be reflecting a subproject. A researcher for my own project. So that simultaneously that. Person get chance to work with my. Theoretical one and. The killer, Uh. Pediments and through that process finally. He completed her BA. Mtech degree and got the degree with best thesis award.

Okay, you've described building subprojects from literature gaps and mentoring students through the process. Shifting gears a bit—your research in amino acid-based nanoparticles and nanomedicine is clearly innovative. With institutional rankings in mind, where do you see the most fundable research directions in your field over the next few years, and which specific grants or funding sources would you target first?

So based on my research experience, I can say in future our experience or our my research expertise should be used in such cases that rather than. Only publishing paper, designing experiments or writing grants or. Filing patents, it should be translated into translational research and something should bring to the end customer age. We are working for healthcare, so some products should be developed or drugs should be developed, which will be directly. Treating first line diseases which are not know any options are. Present for that cure. And I can save for next upcoming years.

The. Project the grants would be. I will be focusing late ICMR. SCRB. Byraj.

So you emphasized translational outcomes and moving discoveries into real products, especially for healthcare.

You mentioned ICMR, SCRB, and Byraj as funding targets. For those specific agencies, how would you tailor a proposal differently compared to a more general academic grant, especially to maximize your chances of success?

So taking part of the. Construction or drafting a proposal, it should be like that by taking my earlier experience as research scientist at ICMR and my old data. Based on that I will design the protocol and edge. Already I have a startup, so I know that for ICMR particularly what type of projects would be designed and the project should be focused on the milestones and. Some achievable milestones not like. We going to publish 5 papers in one year. Some achievable milestones should be mentioned and granted. Patents should be there and particularly to VIT. Vit may help me to. To collaborate with Tib Cell so that my project should be in the translational level rather than in the research academic level. I will genuinely design the project in such a way that after. Three years, there must be a product coming to the market. Might be it is in regulatory trial or anyway, but it should be coming to the market and helping to the end user. Not only. To publish or write the. Patents. It should be. Focus to the ecosystem building.

Right, so you’ve got real experience translating research to industry and supporting student involvement through those partnerships. Now, let’s talk teaching. Suppose you’re designing a new laboratory course in Chemistry—how would you make sure undergrads get a structured, hands-on learning experience rather than just following a list of steps?

So. I am designing a new laboratory for chemistry and particularly for chemistry IMAP. Initially focused for the analytical techniques, which will be very much helpful for the. Characterization or standardization of the design nanoparticle or biomaterials. So students should be get get hands on experience and before using the instrument they will have to go through various literatures and sort videos or I can say. Stations by me or by my PhD students, so they come. Know that rather than using instrument by following the standard SOP's. What are the? Core principle behind let's say UV, HPLC or FTR. Many more instruments and after going through that they have. Use a real sample. To understand, let's say if I am talking about the UV, then I will use my own sample or own data to. Make them understand that why Yogi is used to check. Degradation of drug release behavior from the nanoparticle and how it has been. Plotted to published in a paper or submit. In a manuscript.

So you walk students through the underlying principles before they use the instruments, and then have them work with real samples—like using your own nanoparticle data to teach about UV analysis and drug release. Once they’ve completed a session like that, how do you assess whether they genuinely understand what’s happening, rather than just mimicking steps or repeating words from a manual?

Talking about the assessment after completion of the classes or I can say the sessions I have to. Firstly, I will take their oral presentation so I. Come to know that rather than. Umm mug up anything from the books how they are representing, whether they are the. A correlating their work or interest to the particular core principle of the instrument or not. And the second phase can be, I can say small projects can be assigned to the group of the students. Two or three students can be present in one group and they have to come. Output or ideas in theoretical way? And based on the theory. Again, I have to take them to the near, to the instrument, any instrument. They have to run the experiment and they will. Come to know that how the theoretical, uh outcomes and. Outcomes are related and how they. And if it is differ, how they have to deal with it?

So you use oral presentations first to check if students can actually connect their work to the underlying principles, and then push them to design and run small group projects where they have to compare their theoretical predictions to real experimental outcomes. If a group’s experiment gives unexpected results that don’t match their theory, how do you guide them through troubleshooting—do you step in right away, or let them struggle with it a bit?

Definitely because initially if I will tell them or make them understand everything, it is not easy for them to hustle in their future career. So very first I will give them a chance to try by themselves.

Not getting the answer by going through the literatures or books or. Asking to other faculties or peers or any seniors. Then I will.

Dr. Patra, accreditation cycles can be pretty demanding. If you joined our department and found that outcome assessment data was inconsistent across Chemistry courses, how would you approach fixing that?

Okay, so if you can't resolve inconsistent assessment data by consulting literature or faculty peers, what would be your next concrete step to ensure the department meets accreditation standards?

Yes, if it is not. Resolvable to. Resolvable. Then I will do my own research work and. Before make them understand, I will. First, resend them. What are their exact doubts? And I have to clarify their doubts in simpler manner and by giving some. Live examples for real life. Experiments by showing them. I will try to fix.

Let’s say a colleague approaches you to co-author a paper, but when you review the data you see inconsistencies that make you question its integrity. At the same time, there’s pressure from the department to increase publication output. Walk me through how you’d handle that situation—both with your colleague and with the department.

Yes, this may this case may arise and in that case a researcher from the ethics or I can say to maintain the integrity. The very first choice of me is I will ask my peer or the other group member to. Reconfirm the experiment or reconfirm the data rather than publishing paper with wrong data or. Without integrity, I will first focus to revisit the paper or buy myself. I will try to fix the experiment or re perform the experiment to see. Whether what gap is there and why the integrity is lying in? Publication.

Right, so your first instinct is to confirm or repeat the experiment yourself rather than compromise on research integrity, even if there's pressure to publish. But if your colleague insists the data is fine and the department head is urging you to move forward, would you escalate the issue, or handle it privately? What exactly would you do in that scenario?

Although my colleague insists the data is fine, but still. To match the integrity or to. Maintain the. The reputation of BIT or my own organization I will do privately with or I can try to convince my colleague that if something is there. It is not there. Uh, it is not a bad decision that we can repeat the experiment because we know that for all. Experimental study we use N equal to six or north equal to 10. So instead of north equal to 6, if you are doing N equal to 11/7 or north equal to 11, that is not a. Definitely it will be a good. More accurate and precision data, so I will definitely try to convince my colleague. Rather than. Much more focusing about the public.

Alright, let's shift to industry alignment. Given your background in translational research and startups, do you currently have any industry connections—maybe with pharma or biotech companies—that could help VIT students access internships or real-world project opportunities?

Yes, definitely, because already I have mentioned that I have worked in the intersection of polymer chemistry, research, academia and starter building. So I have many more connections with different companies include Doctor Day's Laboratory, Jaiders, Cadillac and my own startup that is. Refund Healthcare Private Limited, which is incubated at IATBHO so I will be happy to. Collaborate or send my students to any of the pharmac. Companies for small intensive programs in any summer vacations or any. Uh puja vacation so they may uh, learn the concepts in real life rather than going through the theoretical processes in regular life.

You mentioned specific connections with companies like Dr. Reddy's, Cadila, and your own startup, plus plans to send students for industry exposure during breaks. For one of those internships, how would you ensure students actually get meaningful hands-on experience, rather than just observing or doing basic lab tasks?

So what I do before sending the students directly to the? Any pharma companies or biotech I have to meet there? Placement coordinate, not placement coordinator. I have to meet they are middle men or I can say they are technical center. So I come to know that in what way they are giving training or internship program to the students. If possible, I will try to meet the HR of the department to RE. Visit the program and suggest them to. Modify the program in such a way that it should reflect in their future academic career also. And I will suggest them to design some real life or real. Our experimental problem. So that rather than. Going through the. Only. And the instruments or the protocols, uh. Handled by the other people, by their themes, by themselves. So they can. Handle the instruments. Hello, Arjun.

So what I do before sending the students directly to the? Any pharma companies or biotech I have to meet there? Placement coordinate, not placement coordinator. I have to meet they are middle men or I can say they are technical center. So I come to know that in what way they are giving training or internship program to the students. If possible, I will try to meet the HR of the department to RE. Visit the program and suggest them to. Modify the program in such a way that it should reflect in their future academic career also. And I will suggest them to design some real life or real. Our experimental problem. So that rather than. Going through the. Only. And the instruments or the protocols, uh. Handled by the other people, by their themes, by themselves. So they can. Handle the instruments. Hello, Arjun. Could that I'm audible?

So what I do before sending the students directly to the? Any pharma companies or biotech I have to meet there? Placement coordinate, not placement coordinator. I have to meet they are middle men or I can say they are technical center. So I come to know that in what way they are giving training or internship program to the students. If possible, I will try to meet the HR of the department to RE. Visit the program and suggest them to. Modify the program in such a way that it should reflect in their future academic career also. And I will suggest them to design some real life or real. Our experimental problem. So that rather than. Going through the. Only. And the instruments or the protocols, uh. Handled by the other people, by their themes, by themselves. So they can. Handle the instruments. Hello, Arjun. Could that I'm audible? Is there any connection issue?

You talked about designing lab courses and guiding students through real research projects, which shows strong communication and teaching structure. Now, let’s talk about your research specialization—can you walk me through a problem in theoretical chemistry, battery storage, or hydrogen research where your approach led to a breakthrough or a key insight?

Okay, so before sending students for internships, you meet with the technical leads or HR at the company to make sure the training will actually give students hands-on work, and you’re willing to suggest changes to benefit their academic growth. Let's switch gears a bit—can you tell me about your own research specialization within chemistry, and how you’d involve undergraduates or master’s students in active research projects under your guidance?

So it already I have mentioned my work is purely based on the designing and development of amino acid based copolymeric nanoparticles which will be helpful for the various translational healthcare applications. So in this case. I have designed main. More polymer nanoparticles starting from the scratch, taking the MERS. And using by following the free radical polymerization, the polymerization has the nanoparticle has been formed after specific. Hours, so in this case the. After designing the nanoparticles, various characterization techniques for physicochemical techniques we have performed. Standardize or to confirm that successfully the. Designed that structure has been formed. Followed by various in vivo in vitro analysis or I can say biological essays has been performed like cell viability confocal microscopy or I can say fix 2C. Really the design nanoparticles are viable to the healthy cells or not? Or these are toxic or? But these are killing to the cancer. Sales or not, in what way they are acting? If they are killing, what is their mechanism, whether they are following apoptosis or necrosis?

Percentage of sales and following apoptosis and what percentage of sales are following necrosis then? Along with all these experiments.

Okay, so you designed amino acid-based copolymeric nanoparticles from scratch, confirmed their formation with a range of physicochemical methods, and then used things like cell viability and confocal microscopy to check their biological impact—especially against cancer cells, including mechanism of action. Thinking about the classroom,

You’re quantifying the percentage of cell death via apoptosis versus necrosis after your nanoparticle treatment, and running those biological assays alongside your physical characterization. When you teach these advanced research topics to students, how do you adapt your explanations for those who struggle with the underlying concepts?

So I understand these are very high end techniques and for particularly undergrad students, maybe many. Words are also new to them, so before jumping into directly to the techniques or directly to the concepts, I will try to. Teach them in their own language. If I am teaching the basic science chemistry students, then I will start from the principal. If I am teaching the biomedical of pharmaceutical students, so I will teach them in their language like HAP live. Or I can say a drug metabolism. Or I can say reaction kinetics. If I am teaching chemical engineering students or biochemical students, so I can. Start from like. Why in humid condition or mechanical student I can say why in humid condition? I don't know. Uh get lost quickly rather than uh in normal condition. So the approach for teaching different students will be very different. But in all the cases I will use the again, I can say I will be using the. Blend concept. By showing various short videos, live experiences. And live examples real life regular experiences what they are experiencing in their daily regular. Activities. And also. Now I have to. And also I have to help them to go through the various. Graduate level. And go through. All projects so that they can build. Strong knowledge based on the concepts what I have teach on in the.

So you tailor your teaching based on the students’ backgrounds, use blended methods like short videos and live examples, and help them connect theory to real-world applications. For student evaluation—when you set exams or grade lab work, how do you ensure your assessments are fair and actually measure each student’s understanding, not just their ability to memorize?

So my assessments are designed in such way, such a way that the. Question so I can say the. Problems are not the. Questions or any direct? The problems which they can mug up from the book or any. Now laboratory lectures and they can write it up. My questions can be designed in such a way that along with a case study, the question has been raised. So they have to solve the case based on a particular. Theoretical and. Uh, real life knowledge. If I am giving them a. Data IR. I was saying that draw the plot so along with. The drawing, the plot. They have to. Predict a structure also structure of the molecule also so they. P The structure will be not 100% correct, but they can give the possibility of structure so that they come to know that. How? The real life problems work. And from that I can judge them what student is facing what type of problem. And how I have to deal with the particular student. Arjun, you are available.

So your approach is to use case-based questions and data interpretation, not just rote recall, so you can see how students actually think through real problems. Alright, Dr., we're wrapping up. Is there anything you'd like to ask about the role or the team?

So I want. Now particularly for which position they are looking and what are the specialization they are expecting me to teach or do research at bit and for which campus of VIT they are looking for?