Best Place To BuildGrowing Organs in a Petri Dish and Starting Labs in IIT Madras | Dr Anubama Rajan
CHAPTERS
- 0:43 – 1:30
Welcome to IIT Madras and the “builders” theme of the show
Host Amrit sets the context for the podcast: conversations with people building impactful things at IIT Madras. He frames IITM as a hub for makers and introduces the episode’s focus on medical sciences inside a tech-heavy campus.
- 1:30 – 4:20
Meet Dr. Anubama Rajan: faculty, PI, and a new department at IITM
Dr. Anubama Rajan is introduced as a faculty member in the Department of Medical Science and Technology (MST) and principal investigator for two lab initiatives. The conversation tees up her organoid work and what it means to start labs in a newly formed department.
- 4:20 – 9:55
Organoids explained: “mini-organs in a dish” and why they matter
Dr. Rajan explains what organoids are—3D stem-cell-derived models that mimic key organ functions. Using examples like gut and airway tissues, she highlights how organoids reproduce real physiological behaviors (mucus, swelling, absorption) at micron scale.
- 9:55 – 12:55
How organoids are “built”: developmental cues and growth-factor recipes
The discussion shifts to how organoids are generated by recreating embryogenesis-like signaling outside the body. Developmental biology insights identify the growth factors needed to guide stem cells into organ-specific structures.
- 12:55 – 17:00
Organoids in drug discovery: fixing the translation gap and clinical failure rates
Dr. Rajan connects organoids to drug discovery and regulatory interest, emphasizing their potential to reduce late-stage clinical trial failures. She explains why animal models and cancer cell lines often don’t translate to human biology, driving >90% failure rates in clinical trials.
- 17:00 – 19:50
What her lab does: building organoids + patient-derived biobanks for respiratory disease
Dr. Rajan clarifies her lab both develops organoids and uses them to model disease. She describes generating organoids from patient or healthy donor samples, creating biobanks, and studying respiratory conditions relevant to India (asthma/COPD) including viral triggers that worsen symptoms.
- 19:50 – 23:30
Her path into microbiology and organoid science: teachers, choices, and switching fields
She traces her interest back to an inspiring high-school biology teacher, then to biotech training and graduate studies. Discomfort with animal models and a desire for alternative systems led her to Baylor College of Medicine, where “mini organs in a dish” became her defining research direction.
- 23:30 – 29:15
COVID-era research: BSL-3 work, protocols, and intensity during the pandemic
Dr. Rajan recounts starting her postdoc in 2019 just as SARS-CoV-2 emerged. While much of the world paused, her respiratory infection lab accelerated work under Biosafety Level 3 conditions, developing protocols to study coronavirus using organoid models.
- 29:15 – 31:00
Career planning and coming back to India: mentorship, funding realities, and purpose
The conversation turns to long-horizon planning in academia—selecting meaningful questions, navigating funding, and finding mentorship. She describes mentors’ advice to focus on what she can contribute to India, and how exposure to India Alliance/Wellcome-DBT pathways reduced the perceived risk of returning.
- 31:00 – 36:00
Why IIT Madras built MST: closing the engineering–medicine disconnect
Dr. Rajan explains that engineering-medical integration is standard globally (MIT/Stanford/Harvard models) but historically fragmented in India. MST was created as an intentional space to bring clinicians, engineers, and scientists together to solve healthcare problems, guided by visionary leadership at IITM.
- 36:00 – 41:40
Joining a “startup-like” department: building labs from scratch and finding belonging
She describes the risk of joining a department that initially lacked infrastructure—no ready floor, lab, or even signage. Despite the uncertainty, the interview discussions with clinician-heavy panels and the clarity of the department’s mission convinced her it was the right place to build.
- 41:40 – 46:00
MST programs and curriculum: BS (Medical Sciences & Engineering) and hospital immersion
Dr. Rajan outlines the undergraduate program structure: strong math plus biology/computer science, anatomy/physiology foundations, and engineering training to enable interdisciplinary fluency. A standout element is mandatory hospital exposure—internships at AIIMS Delhi and local Chennai hospitals to identify real clinical problems and propose engineering solutions.
- 46:00 – 51:00
Faculty “flavors” and unique opportunities: clinicians, POPs, devices, AI/ML, and hospital-linked learning
The department’s structure includes fundamental biologists, engineers, and clinicians, plus Professors of Practice from top hospitals. Students see theory meet practice through hospital visits tied to coursework (e.g., cardiomechanics) and exposure to device design, imaging, computational approaches, and emerging AI/ML workflows.
- 51:00 – 1:01:35
Career outcomes, SCODER diabetes initiative, science communication, and women-in-STEM realities
The closing arc covers expected career pathways (research, industry, entrepreneurship), then introduces SCODER—an industry/philanthropy-aligned diabetes research center focused on practical tools. Dr. Rajan also discusses the time demands and purpose of social media as science communication, and reflects on challenges for women in STEM—especially mid-career—emphasizing support systems, clear communication at home, and prioritizing oneself without guilt.
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