Vivek Lonkar

Biography

  Experience Management Cadre(Executive Officer) Company NameSerum Institute of India Limited Dates EmployedJun 2012 – Present   Employment Duration5 yrs 4 mos LocationPune  Vaccine R&D,production, Biotransformation & Conjugation (polysaccharide & protein), formulation.  Develop and improve purification & conjugation processes for microbial antigen (Protein & Polysaccharide) products (Down Stream Process, Molecular Biology).  Pneumococcal, Meningococcal A & Hepatitis B vaccine production (Upstream & Downstream).  Review of preparation, maintenance & updation of the regulatory documents, assessment of their compliance with regulatory norms of national & international regulatory bodies.  Protein & Conjugated protein analysis.  Molecular Biology approaches to improve protein & polysaccharide expression.  Small molecules pathway gene expression in Yeasts & Prokaryotes.  Gene disruption & integration.  Hypotheses for missing enzymes in Yeasts & Prokaryotes. Early Stage Researcher/ Research Technologist Company NamePraj Industries Ltd., Matrix The Innovation Center Dates EmployedApr 2009 – Jun 2012   Employment Duration3 yrs 3 mos LocationPune Area, India  Strategic R&D, Product, facility development decisions Responsible for project proposal(discerning the need for prospective microorganisms, Metabolic engineering of microbes to develop proprietary strains (through rational & random mutagenesis, adaptation etc. strategies) & execution.  Project planning, management & execution, with mid level management. Mentoring & nurturing the team, annual formulation and day to day administration of the department and its facilities.  Upstream & Downstream process development.  Review of isolation, maintenance & preservation the microbiological cultures.  Process development for ethanol/butanol production (Standardization of optimum fermentation conditions) from various feed stocks (Artificial Media, Lignocelluloses, Corn, and Molasses), Method development for microbiological Assays of mutant selection.  Fermentation follow up (partial chemical fingerprinting through HPLC, GC) and other chemical analyses.  Simultaneous Saccharification Fermentation.  Metabolic Engineering.  Training & on site assessment of management tools. Research Trainee Company NameNational Chemical Laboratory Dates EmployedAug 2007 – May 2008   Employment Duration10 mos LocationPune Area, India My research work at NCL was rewarded with a research paper publication for me & my colleagues.Two research papers were published & a patent was awarded to the research done based on the same work. NCL a nationalized Interdisciplinary research centre in Science With Approximately 200 scientific staff with PhD & About 400 graduate students pursuing research towards doctoral degree Publishes the second largest number of papers in chemical sciences, the largest number of patents, both in India and abroad and produces the largest number of Ph.D.s in Chemical Sciences in India. I applied & assessed some of the fundamental concepts in Biology, nourished my aspiration to do commercially applicable research.Interaction with eminent scientists, their diverse & productive work strengthen my desire to be a researcher.

Research Interest

 ïƒœ Eight years' stint in Bio-pharmaceutical/ Biotechnology R&D and Product development with significant achievements.  Past- 4 yrs.’ Experience as Executive (Research Technologist, Molecular Biology Department (Praj Industries, 3 years) + 1 Year Research Experience (National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, CSIR, India).  Proposed & executed 2 research projects with significant achievements, present project on verge of accomplishment, towards commercialization.  Comprehensive exposure in Research & Development; can expediently prove mettle in Pharmaceutical Product/Project Development/Operation activities.  A creative thinker & a learning leader with excellent organizational skills, flexible & detail oriented attitude combined with strong information analysis skills & proven ability to interact with a diverse range of people in a professional manner.  Involved in Proposal & analysis of research projects using various analysis tools e.g. Six Thinking Hats, Scrum, Kanban, SWOT, etc.  Genetic Engineering & Metabolic engineering for Prokaryotic & Eukaryotic Metabolic pathway manipulation.  Skills:   Technical: > Protein Purification > Protein Polysaccharide purification & Conjugation > Tangential Flow Filtration, Ultra filtration. > In Depth expertise on Mutagenesis (Random & Rational) > Microbial culture Isolation, Preservation & Maintenance. > Metabolic Engineering. > Fermentation process development > Optimization of Cell based assays for Enzyme & mutant cell selection. > Enzyme Engineering.  Soft Skills: > Business Plan Proposal, Project proposal, planning & execution > Team Building, budgeting & Department management > creative thinker with inquisitive & analytic attitude > excellent leadership skills > Product Development.