Guruprasad Raghavan

Contact
Information

Room No. 203, Mandakini Hostel

IIT Madras, Adyar
Chennai - 600036, INDIA
Guruprasad Raghavan Homepage

tel: +91 9940599702

gpr.1993@gmail.com
Male, DOB: 13.12.1993

Research
Interests

DNA Nanotechnology, Bio-inspired design of Biomedical Devices, Computational Systems Biology and
Internet of Things (Health-care aspects).

Education

Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India

Final year B.Tech. Student in the Department of Biotechnology
Major: Biotechnology; Minor: Assistive Technology
Major CGPA: 9.88/10;
CGPA: 9.33/10; Courses taken until end of 8 Semester
Ranked 1 in a class of 54 students after completion of 8 semesters
Delhi Private School, Sharjah, UAE
All India Senior School Certificate Examination (XII) (CBSE Board)
94.4 % (2011)
Ranked 1 among Boys in school and Ranked 3 overall

Academic Honors

Secured the Third place at the ioTx Hackathon conducted by the Dubai Smart Goverment at
Dubai World Trade Center on 8th June, 2015.
Awarded the First position at the IITM Research Expo15, conducted during Shaastra15, annual
technical festival of IIT Madras.
Secured a perfect 10/10 GPA in the 7th Semester at IIT Madras.
Among Top 14 students from all over India to be awarded the Honda Young Engineer and
Scientist Award in 2014.
Awarded Dr. Anita-Mehta Damani Award for Best Academic record in 3rd and 4th semesters
in Biotechnology Department, IIT Madras in 2014.
Secured an all-India Rank of 1551 and a Tamil Nadu state rank of 52 in the All India Engineering
Entrance Examination (AIEEE) 2011 in which more than 11.18 lakh students appeared.
Selected among top 200 from 8000 students to attempt Indian National Olympiad in Informatics,
after qualification of Zonal Informatics Olympiad (ZIO) in 2011.
Secured the Gold Medal in IAIS Macmillan Science Contest for best performance among 11
countries in 2010
Sheikh Hamdan Award: Awarded for Distinguished Academic Performance in Gulf Countries
awarded by the Deputy Ruler of Dubai in 2008
Sharjah Award: For Distinguished Academic Performance in United Arab Emirates awarded by
the Ruler of Sharjah in 2008

Research
Experience

Undergraduate Thesis: Computational Modeling of Cellular Dynamics

Guide: Dr. Vignesh Muthuvijayan
Department of Biotechnology, IIT Madras (Aug 2014 - May 2015)
Developed an in-silico model to understand cell-population dynamics where cells are initially seeded
in a bio-compatible scaffold, left to migrate, collide and proliferate until they reach confluence.
Along with cellular processes, the effect of growth factors and the diffusional limitation of essential
nutrients is incorporated in the model.

 This computational tissue set-up has been used to determine efficient wound-healing strategies and
can be further expanded to analyse the efficacy of specific drugs on cellular populations growing on
bio-artificial tissues.

Summer Internship 2014: AFM observation of spatiotemporal control of Protein-DNA interaction

Guide: Dr. Hiroshi Sugiyama and Dr. Masayuki Endo
Integrated Cell and Material Sciences, Kyoto University, Japan (May 2014 - Aug 2014)
Spatio-temporally controlled DNA-protein interactions at the nano-scale using visible light, and
visualized the same using an Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and High-Speed AFM.
Computationally modelled the hybrid protein VVD-GAL4 to study the dynamics of DNA-protein
complex formation.

Winter Internship 2013: An attempt to understand Synaptic Vesicles dynamics using DNA Nanostructures
Guide: Dr. Yamuna Krishnan
National Center for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India (Dec 2013 - Jan 2014)
Performed Biochemical characterization of a DNA binding protein that was expressed in Synaptic
vesicles in order to track physiological changes like pH and Chloride concentration inside these
vesicles.
Learnt basic experimental techniques to work with C.elegans; Picking them at different stages of
growth (L1, L2, L3, L4 and Adult) and setting up crosses.

Bio-molecular Design Competition (BIOMOD) 2013: pH Mediated DNA Hopping

Guide: Dr. N. Manoj
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India (Aug 2013 - Nov 2013)
Designed a Molecular Robot responsive to pH of the solution and verified formation of structure
in-silico using NUPACK (online software) and DNA Native PAGE. IIT Madras - BIOMOD 13
submission

Summer Internship 2013: Alteration of pH sensitive regime of DNA I-switch

Guide: Dr. Yamuna Krishnan
National Center for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India (May 2013 - July 2013)
Worked on varying the pH sensitive regime of DNA, LNA switches by implementing modifications
in the Cytosine residues comprising the i-motif.
Characterized the incorporated change by extensive FRET measurements

Innovative Student Project: Myoelectric Prosthetic Arm

Guide: Preejith S.P (MS student in Dr. S. Mohanasankars Lab)
Center for Innovation, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India (July 2012 - Dec 2012)
Succeeded in controlling simple electrical devices using ones Electromyograph (EMG) signals. The
EMG signals were processed in MATLAB and LabView. Performed feature extraction to identify
distinct muscular movements.
Course Projects

Computational Model of 2D View Cells and 1D Grid Cells using the Self-Organizing Map
Guide: Dr. Srinivasa Chakravarthy
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India (Sept 2014 - Dec 2014)
Designed an n-sided virtual space (Convex polygon) to simulate movement of an organism and
obtain its visual vectors, given its current position and head orientation;
Extracted salient features for training a self-organizing map, after the simulated organism exhaustively explores the visual space.

 Identified the neurons (SOM nodes) responsible for detection of a specific view, and understood its
change in firing pattern with repeated exposure.

In-silico Modeling of a Microbial Consortia to enhance Ethanol Production

Guide: Dr. Guhan Jayaraman
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India (Aug 2014 - Nov 2014)
Used a metabolic model (SBML) of E-coli and Yeast to simulate a consortium, with the goal of
maximizing production of ethanol from Lignocellulose (substrate).
Performed an opt-knock analysis to determine genes controlling flux through the ethanol synthesis
pathway, and coupled cellulase production by yeast with the uptake of Xylose by E-coli.

Multi-scale Computational Modeling of HIV Dynamics

Guide: Dr. Karthik Raman
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India (Mar 2014 - May 2014)
The objective of the project was to understand HIV virion dynamics in Intracellular and Extracellular setup. This was done by modeling the system using Ordinary Differential Equation (ODEs)
and Delayed Differential Equations (DDEs).
The other aim was to determine putative drug targets by performing Principal Component analysis
of microarray datasets of infected T-cells.
Submitted Thesis to Undergraduate Awards, Dublin

Alert Mechanism for the Hearing Impaired

Guide: Dr. Anil Prabhakar
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (Mar 2014 - May 2014)
Our project was an attempt to assist people with hearing difficulties through an innovative technological intervention. We fabricated a device to alert the user to important sources of sound they
encounter in everyday life, imperative to their independent living. In order to perform this task, we
tapped the tactile capabilities of people with hearing disorders

Mathematical Modeling of the Mosquito Proboscis to understand Evolution

Guide: Dr. GK Suraishkumar
Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India (Jan 2013 - May 2013)
The objective of this project was to mathematically prove my hypothesis relating to the evolution
of the mechanism of fluid suction by a mosquito. I proposed a futuristic design of the Proboscis,
which incorporated the peristaltic motion. This would decrease time required for blood suction but
would end the era of mosquitoes being used as vectors for plasmodium (protozoa causing malaria)
Paper and Poster
Presentations

G. Raghavan, A.Kaushik, V.Narayanan "DNA Hoppers"presented at Pan IIT Research Expo

2014, IIT Madras pdf
A. Kaushik, G.Raghavan, V. Narayanan "A Smart way to control DNA system: A preview"presented
at Biospectra 2013, an annual technical symposium conducted by the Biomedical Engineers
Association of College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University pdf
G.Raghavan "Understanding the Evolution of Mosquito", accepted to appear as an online featured
article in the Columbia Undergraduate Research Journal pdf (Mail from Publisher)

Skills

Programming Languages: C/C++,Python; Others: LaTeX, Matlab, Mathematica

Operating Systems: Proficient in Windows, Linux
Linguistics: Fluent with English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Basic spoken Japanese and can read
and write Arabic.

Positions of
Responsibility

IIT Madras Chess Captain, Mandakini Hostel Table Tennis Captain (Aug 2013 - May 2014)
Student Representative, RISHI, UC-Berkeley Initiative, IITM (Oct 2012 - Jan 2013)
Coordinator, Publicity and Student Relations, Shaastra,IITM (June 2012 - Jan 2013)
Head boy, Delhi Private School, Sharjah (Mar 2010 - Apr 2011)

Extra-Curricular
Activities

Technical Events: 3rd Place, math modeling, Kurukshetra, technical festival, Anna University,
Jan 2013, 3rd Runner Up, Contraptions, Shaastra, IIT Madras, Oct 2011
Chess: Deans Trophy Silver, Oct 2013; Bronze, Mar 2012, IITM; represented UAE, CBSE Chess
Nationals, Nanganallur,Tamil Nadu, Nov 2008
Table Tennis: Schroeter -Gold, Mar 2014, Bronze, Mar 2013, IITM; represented DPS Sharjah,
CBSE UAE Clusters,Dubai, UAE, Nov 2009
Creative Writing: contributor, On the Cuff Mandakini Hostel magazine, IITM, Aug 2012 Dec
2013
Music: Learning to play the Violin
Social Cause: member, Saathi, Dubai chapter, since Apr 2008; member, Indian Council for Child
Welfare, Chennai chapter, since June 2007; Medicine Sans Frontiers, since Aug 2005; Emirates
Environmental Group, since Jan 2004

Declaration of
Correctness

I hereby declare that the information furnished above is true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Clarifications

The Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is a measure of performance over all the previous semesters.
It is calculated on a scale of 10. My CGPA currently equals 9.33 out of 10 after 8 semesters.