Nidhan K. Biswas

Biography

Education Year Degree University 2011 Ph.D Calcutta University (Indian Statistical Institute – Human Genetics Unit) 2003 M.Sc Calcutta University 2001 B.Sc Calcutta University Professional Appointments: Senior data analyst, May 2011 - June 2013, International Cancer Genome Consortium - India Project, NIBMG. Senior technical specialist, May 2010 - June 2011, International Cancer Genome Consortium - India Project, NIBMG. Professional Memberships: Member of Calcutta Consortium on Human Genetics, India. Awards/Honors Year Award 2004 CSIR-JRF. 2005 Best poster award – NCBS, India. 2006 Best poster award – ISHG Meeting, Delhi. 2006 International travel award – HUGO-AP meeting, Taipei, Taiwan. 2008 International travel award – HUGO-AP meeting, Philippines. 2008 CCTDS Travel Fellowship. 2011 International travel award – HGM-2011, Dubai. 2012 International travel award – NCKU, Tainan City,Taiwan. 2012 Won data analysis competition – NCKU, Tainan city, Taiwan. 2013 Wellcome trust meeting bursaries award – Genomics of complex disease Meeting, Oxford, UK. 2013 Young Biotechnologist Fellowship Award 2016 International Travel Award - 13th International Congress of Human Genetics, Kyoto - Japan. Invited/Special lectures Title of the talk 2006 Workshop on Statistical Methods in the Analysis of SNP Marker Data - Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata. 2007 Indian Society of Human Genetics meeting, Kolkata. 2008 Indian Society of Human Genetics meeting, Vizag. 2008 Illumina User group meeting, HUGO-AP, Philippines. 2010 Workshop on Human Genetics and Genomics - An Introduction, NIBMG. 2012 Introduction to next generation sequencing: Learning the platforms and basics of data analysis – One day workshop for CU students, NIBMG. 2013 NIBMG-EBI winter school on “Analysis of Massively-Parallel Sequencing Data”, NIBMG 2013 Applications of Bioinformatics in Modern Molecular Biology, ICGEB. 2014 CC-HUGE Meeting. IPGMER. 2014 NIBMG winter school on "From GWAS hits to targeted resequencing" 2015 NIBMG winter school on "Analysis of Massively-Parallel Sequencing Data" 2015 First advanced training workshop on "Understanding human disease and improving human health using genomic-driven approaches", NIBMG. 2016 NIBMG-UChichago Workshop on " Big data analysis in Biomedical Genomics" 2016 13th International Congress of Human Genetics, Kyoto - Japan.

Research Interest

With the huge advances in DNA sequencing technology and computational algorithms, it is now possible to identify genomic alterations of a cancer genome in an unprecedented way. The present day NGS DNA sequencers can generate several terabytes of sequence data in couple of days. We are now in the era of “BigData” computation. However the accessibility and performance of the computational tools required to analyze these “BigData” continue to lag far behind the improvements in technology. My research interest lies in the development of automated pipelines for analyzing these “BigData” sets. In particular, my current research is focused on applying these computational methods to understand and study (i) tumour heterogeneity in oral cancer and (ii) how tumour heterogeneity modulates local lymph-node metastasis. In addition to my current research goals, I am engaged as the group leader of bioinformatics and statistical wing of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) – India project on gingivo-buccal oral cancer. In this project, we are identifying the nature and extent of genomic alterations in Indian oral cancer patients. We are generating and analyzing whole-exome, whole-genome DNA sequencing and RNA-sequencing data on multiple gingivo-buccal oral cancer patients to discover the complete repertoire of genomic alteration in these patients. In past, I have worked extensively in human evolutionary genetics with special reference to natural selection. I have continued interest in human evolution and human population genetics. Presently, I am working with my colleagues in two large projects on whole genome sequencing data from multiple Indian ethnic population samples.