## Rupsa Basu

**Q: Tell me a bit about yourself.**  
My name is Rupsa Basu and I am a viral immunologist by passion and a backpacker at heart. My mantra of life is to dream, believe and achieve. As a seven years old kid, I started dreaming about becoming a scientist and developed an increased interest in reading science fiction and detective fiction stories. After reading the book “Selfish Gene” in elementary school, I got inspired with nature’s scientific secrets and slowly idolized scientists like Darwin, Watson & Crick, Mendel and more. Fast forward a few years, I did my undergraduate degree - Bachelor of Science with a major of Zoology in University of Calcutta, one of the most prestigious universities, and won a gold medal for being a top ranker in the state. I got awarded a very competitive scholarship by the Government of India to pursue my Masters of Science, Molecular Biology & Genetics in one of the leading and highly prestigious academic institutions globally, The Presidency University, India, with a 193 years history of notable alumni including Nobel prize winners. After earning my master's degree with first-class distinction, I came to the United States for my PhD. In Michigan Technological University, I successfully finished my doctorate with the highest GPA of 4.0 on Molecular Virology and Vaccinology. I won several awards and grants and published several high impact factor publications on novel viral vaccines developed by myself. Apart from science, I am an avid book reader and enjoy dancing.

**Q: Why did you decide to join Humane Genomics?**  
Humane Genomics has been working on developing novel therapeutics using synthetic viruses to treat cancer. This mission is very close to my heart as I have lost several family members due to cancers. As a virologist, I am intrigued in utilizing the good nature of viruses to help target & cure critical cancers. Apart from the scientific mission, I strongly believed in the wonderful culture of the company. It’s a small but a power pack team currently with a fine balance of innovative research, brain triggering whiteboard sessions, empathy & enjoyable work environment with occasional parties. We are like a family at work with a common mission to cure cancer.

**Q: Why is your background a great fit?**  
I have overall more than 12 years of R&D experience in conducting cutting edge as well as state of the art research on several fields such as immuno-oncology, nanomedicine, clinical research, virology vaccines and immunology. As a part of dissertation & NIH grants, I have developed & formulated several efficient, thermostable, cost effective, dual targeting (prophylactic & therapeutic) virus-like particle vaccines against epidemic viruses such as Zika Virus, Chikungunya virus, Human papillomavirus, Influenza virus, SARS-CoV-2 & novel virus based platforms. This led to winning the prestigious [3 minute thesis award competition](https://blogs.mtu.edu/biological/2016/04/rupsa-basu-takes-awards-in-3-minute-thesis-competition/), oral talks in international conferences, guest lectures, grants worth $2M of non-dilutive funding & several peer reviewed publications in high impact factor journals such as Vaccine, Virology Journal, Antiviral Research, etc. I always follow a creative thinking approach to solve problems even in time-constrained projects. I also have experience at several start-ups. I have led multiple projects in scientific and business areas, focusing on process development, clinical trial designs, GMP, viral immunology, immune boosting infant nutrition and vaccines. In addition, I am a reviewer & editor of several high impact factor peer-reviewed scientific associations & journals. With an amalgamation of viruses & cancer as well as slowly increasing business acumen, I am a perfect fit as the lead scientist in Humane Genomics Inc.

**Q: What is your role and what are you working on?**  
As the lead scientist, I prioritize what projects we work on, together with our co-founder and CSO Chad. Based on prioritization, I am responsible for making the daily planning for the team. I am responsible for running the lab, making sure that all consumables are in stock and ordered on time, and that we keep a complete inventory. Apart from the lab operations, I am also responsible for optimizing, troubleshooting, and standardizing R&D protocols for improving workflows. Recently we have successfully synthesized & rescued a few novel engineered viruses. We are working on deciphering the selectivity, safety & efficacy of those engineered viruses in in-vitro models and immunological efficacy of such viruses in a tumor microenvironment.

**Q: What are you most excited about?**  
I am still pinching myself after successfully rescuing the first engineered virus and really excited about getting it into action in the tumor physiological environment moving into mouse models & hopefully clinical trials soon.