Her Story
About Amruta
Amruta Bapat is a research scientist in the healthcare field with about three years of experience in infectious diseases. She works in the infectious diseases department producing and designing vaccines and antivirals for targets including RSV, HMPV, and coronaviruses. She completed her PhD in genetics in 2024 and holds a Project Management Professional license valid until October 2027. Her career path includes prior work in the plant industry after her master's degree. She attributes her success to support from loved ones including parents, friends, sister, and roommates. The best career advice she received emphasizes building connections and networking outside the lab alongside academic work. She advises young women entering the industry to think out of the box and find different paths when the way is not obvious. She values perseverance, discipline, and patience in her work.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Amruta
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say my support from my loved ones, which is, if they weren't around me, to talk to me, whenever I want. So it's my parents and my friends and my sister. And great roommates sometimes.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Making connections like, besides your academic achievements, I think the connections that you build over the years with your colleagues and your friends that you make over the years in your industry always helps you, whether in getting a recommendation, or sometimes even like a sounding board. What you do in the lab is important, but what you do outside of the lab during your PhD is networking and connections and making sense is equally important. Have that balance of being all alone and working in the lab but sometimes also being social and open to talk to people from other labs.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
When you don't find the like when the way is not obvious, try to find like try to think out of the box, and find different paths to get to the same destination, you know? If you have something set in mind, if you're denied because of some reasons, whatever, you know? One way to leave forward.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Our fields are very specialized. Like, the more we work in a particular field, it becomes the more technically specialized you become. And I think that's a challenge, but sometimes there are people who are very adventurous enough to offer you projects which are like you've never even learned anything about. And so when you do that, you get really good opportunities to learn. An opportunity when you're faced with a new task. But sometimes, when you're looking for a job the fees it comes to technical and because you know what is competition.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
For me, I think I've been very like, perseverance, I think, and discipline. And also patient. This research requires a lot of patience. Definitely, but I would say perseverance was the most important value.
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