5 Questions with Shrishti Signh, Product Manager, Radical AI
Meet one of BioBuzz’s newest Expert Contributors! Shrishti brings a journey from a childhood dream of saving lives to a career in biotech innovation and community mentorship.
August 21, 2024
| This article is part of our 5 Questions With series, one of our ongoing People & Places Features. We love it because despite the consistent questioning, the answers are all unique. Be sure to FOLLOW us on LinkedIn to tell us what you think. |
1) What did you want to be when you grow up? How’d you get from there to here?
In my teens, my mom was in and out of hospitals a lot. I took care of her appointments, her hospital visits and overnight stays. During this time, my kind and empathetic self developed a dream of saving lives, as a physician. Since I was always alone while my mom was being treated, the doctors in the hospital would spend time with me, teaching me biology and helping me join medicine. I got an exceptional grade but due to India’s highly competitive scholarships structure, I failed to get a scholarship for medical school. I belonged to a lower-middle-class family in India, and I could not afford medical school without substantial financial aid. So, I bawled my eyes out in front of my mother’s medical team. One physician then told me that I could still achieve my dream of saving lives by creating and commercializing life-saving technologies.
So, I enrolled in BE in Biotechnology India. I worked with nanotechnologies and fell in love with innovating new technologies with clinical potential. After BE, I won an internationally acclaimed medical hackathon wherein I developed a diagnostic assay for maternal sepsis in 48 hrs. After that, I was recruited for a MS in BME, followed by a PhD in BME, during which I created a drug which could enhance the contrast of diseased tissue, improving early-stage diagnosis of tumors. I advanced the development of the drug during my postdoctoral associate role, where I also acquired skills in creating product-market fit, conducting market analysis, and driving commercialization efforts. I also did a project management internship this summer with RadicalAI to gain insights in the AI domain. Currently, I am striving to use all these skills and looking for new opportunities to solve problems in the biotech/pharma sector. I wanted to save lives when I grew up, and I keep striving to keep that dream alive even today.
2) How are you helping to build a more connected community?
When people ask me who I am, I never define myself by my profession. I always define myself by my attributes: kind, empathetic, resilient and optimistic nerd. That’s why connecting and creating a community is extremely important for my growth. I have mentored several undergraduates for their professional growth during my time at George Mason University and presented the importance of my research in several outreach presentations to high-school and middle-school students. I am also a volunteer in the Letters to Pre-Scientist program wherein I send handwritten letters to middle school students, showing them how “cool” science can be! I also provide free career mentoring to students from lower-income families interested in going to graduate schools.
Currently, I am trying to create a community of biotech professionals on LinkedIn and I am trying to provide information on career transition options for researchers, tips to navigate the current job market and curated experts on advances in biotech products or technologies. I welcome everybody to my LinkedIn network and love open dialogue, so please connect and become a part of my community.
3) What are currently buzzing about? Anything and everything…
Currently, I have been extremely excited about joining opportunities in which I can contribute intellectually and creatively, such as a technology transfer associate or consultant. I have been trying to pursue helping individuals solve problems in biotech and provide ideas for new products or ways to commercialize the product. I am also actively pursuing to sharpen my grant writing skills, to be able to help start-ups or companies with their fundraising strategies.
On the personal side, I have been buzzing about learning how to knit a blanket before winter rolls around and finishing my science fiction novel. It’s a great story, and my creativity is at peak in this piece of work! Fingers crossed that I finish it someday!
4) If you could travel back in time – what early career advice would you give yourself?
One piece of advice I would give to my younger self would be: “It’s never too late to reach out to professionals who can be your Yoda!”
As a first-gen college student and PhD, I didn’t understand the true importance of seeking mentorship and its benefits. Hence, after graduating, I was faced with several career options with no idea on how to break into these different roles. The professional world has become competitive and I wish I had branched out and built a bigger network LinkedIn while I was in graduate school. Definitely, network, network and network. Reach out to professionals on LinkedIn earlier, especially ones who are in a career trajectory you would like to see yourself in and ask them to mentor you! Most people are receptive and would definitely answer your questions.
5) The fun (and rotating) one…“What’s on your bucket list?!”
Oh boy, this is a hard answer. I would say a few personal things are showing my mom the world, as much as I can and adopting a furry little friend (a cat!) in the near future. I would also love to be part of an entrepreneurial hub one day as a venture capitalist, creating funding opportunities for underrepresented groups in business, and establish a fellowship for first-gen female college students under my mom’s name, so that I can help another Shrishti achieve her dreams.
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