Dr Vinod RMT Balasubramaniam

Course: Doctor of Philosophy (Molecular Virology), 2014
Nationality: Malaysian
Current role: Associate Professor, Monash University Malaysia

Why did you choose Monash?

Right after my bachelor’s degree, I had a burning desire to understand and learn more about virology and infectious diseases. JCSMHS was the right place to pursue this dream as it has an array of specialists in this field, notably Associate Professor Dr Sharifah Syed Hassan, who was the former Director of Veterinary Research Institute (VRI) and also an expert in molecular virology.

Not forgetting the modern facilities which JCSMHS possesses, which makes it an ideal place for top-notch research in Malaysia. Following that, it is a proven fact that Monash is one of the best and most prestigious universities in the world. Its degree is widely acknowledged and recognised around the world. Graduating from Monash enabled me to achieve my education and career goals of being in one of the best universities in the world. Apart from that, being a Monash graduate helped me to further my career ambitions as a post-doctoral research scientist at Mount Sinai hospital, New York.

Please tell us about your PhD research.

My PhD mainly focuses on crosstalks between the Influenza virus and its hosts. Host cellular machinery plays a vital role in the survival of viruses. The outcome of infection is determined by complex host-virus interactions with a large number of altered transcriptional and translational rates, and functional kinetics of participating genes.

To date, the first-hand information on the molecular changes in the host induced by the virus to promote its replication and also the pathways triggered in the host that result in immunity and or clearance of the viral infection are still lacking. Having insights into the host's responses to viruses would help define targets for therapeutic intervention.

I’m particularly interested in cross-talks between host and Influenza viral proteins; specifically, how host cells interact and the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiologic process of Influenza virus infection.

After your PhD, you continued as a postdoctoral fellow in the Infection and Immunity cluster at JCSMHS. Can you tell us about your experience?

I continued to work with protein-protein interactions between viral proteins and host proteins, this time looking at other viruses such as Dengue. The post-doc opportunity in Monash also enabled me to try out novel/risky experiments which I could not pursue during my PhD, it was a very good learning experience.

Did you participate in any student activities or opportunities?

Being at this prestigious university enabled me to apply for many short term scholarships abroad to improve my research thinking and skills while pursuing my PhD. One of them was the HKU-PASTEUR Virology course held in Hong Kong in 2010. I was one of the two students selected from Malaysia for this scholarship.

Apart from that I also won the Young Scientist Travel Award for 6^th AOHUPO Congress in Beijing, China 2012 representing Monash University Malaysia. I also attended various conferences both local (Best poster award for Microbial Biotechnology category in IPCB UMT Terengganu, Dec 2011) also international (IMED 2013, February 15^th -18^th 2013, Hilton Vienna, Austria)

What did you enjoy most about your student life at Monash?

As our motto stands ‘Ancora Imparo’, it’s always a never-ending learning process in Monash, as I learned a lot from our lecturers who come from all around the world, instilling sharp ‘out of the box’ way of critical thinking skills and research skills. The Monash PhD program teaches us to be independent and critically solve research problems.

Apart from that, being able to meet and interact with students and staff from all around the world was a very good exposure in sharpening our communication skills. One of the most challenging aspects while at Monash was juggling between the demanding working hours in the lab and personal life.

What made you decide to pursue a career as a lecturer at Monash?

It’s a well-known fact that Monash University enables us to be exposed to an international setting in terms of its curriculum and also the staff which made me very independent and critical in terms of thinking and presenting novel research ideas. This is very helpful to produce quality and ground-breaking research when compared to other universities in the country.

What are your career goals?

I wish to contribute significantly to understanding the cross-talks between viruses and their host and discover a way to stop them and establish myself as one of the best virologists in Malaysia.