Dr Sanchita Bhadra

Sanchita received her PhD in molecular genetics and microbiology from the University of Texas at Austin where she now works as a Research Scientist. She pursues research in molecular engineering and point-of-care technologies to create new diagnostic/analytical methods and molecular biology reagents and processes that improve accessibility to healthcare and STEM education. Her collaborative work encompasses diverse fields including – (i) functional nucleic acids and strand displacement computational devices; (ii) probe technologies and colorimetric detection; (iii) multiplexed nucleic acid amplification assays; (iv) single nucleotide polymorphism detection; (v) point-of-care diagnostics and hand-held hardware for field use; and (vi) development of low cost molecular biology reagents.

Sanchita is collaborating with the Open Bioeconomy Lab to facilitate local production of ‘cellular reagents’, a low-cost alternative to commercial molecular/synthetic biology enzymes that she was instrumental in developing. Cellular reagents can be seamlessly substituted for their commercial counterparts in common molecular and synthetic biology processes including DNA and RNA amplification and DNA assembly. Being able to produce these reagents on-site will be a game changer in increasing access to molecular and synthetic biology research and education.