In this chapter of Career Stories, we bring you the journey of Dr. Anil Kumar Challa who is an Adjunct Professor in the department of biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Apart from this, he is also a senior scientist at Shiv Nadar University Delhi NCR.
In this candid chat he takes us through his professional journey and talks about what keeps him motivated enough to continue pursuing a Career in Academia.
What motivated you to take science?
So, there are two answers here. One is as fundamental as being human-I think there’s this urge to find out (more about) things.
I guess it might sound philosophical, but I think every kid is a scientist. Every infant is so curious about the world and if it is not inhibited then I believe that everybody has the potential to become a scientist in some way or the other.
But for me in terms of a career path in science sometime around sixth grade I gravitated more towards medicine/biology. Those days, it was a social thing- you either became an engineer or a doctor. And by eighth grade, I subscribed to MBBS tutorials, but did not read a single page of it. As a kid, I wasn’t studious, nor did I read textbooks or complete my homework properly. But then, I definitely enjoyed it in middle school, when we had to study different flowers. As a kid, I grew up with a backyard full of flowering plants and fruit trees. I really enjoyed my time with the plants. It was not something very special, or something that was leading me to ‘science’ per say, but I started observing and studying a lot of things by myself. Once, in a class activity, I actually took a razor blade to cut a flower in a longitudinal section, drew it, and coloured it. The reason I’m mentioning this particular incident is because the activity is extremely vivid in my memory even now- so, I started enjoying the process of going through details of things.
And then, over the years, I got really fascinated by human anatomy and forensic sciences. In the ninth grade, one of my classmates introduced me to science reporter, and I just loved those articles- the way they were written, and I was really fascinated about ballistics and all kinds of chemistry. By the time I was in 11th and 12th grade, I gave a lot of pre-medical entrances, but eventually I realized that medicine is not for me. However, I was already bitten by a general fascination towards everything ‘science’.
Once I got into my undergrad, it was very clear in my head that this is a path I wanted to follow. My learning then was not limited to life sciences as I learnt a lot about engineering and coding through two of my very good friends from the hostel. The Banaras Hindu University campus also really helped me- that it was a very generous institution in a sense that they did not restrict an undergrad’s participation in any seminar or lectures. And because of this, I got immense clarity in my second year BSc that this is the direction that I want to pursue my career in.
You pursued a BSc in agriculture and then shifted your career to molecular biology and genetics., What inspired this transition, and was it difficult?
While in my first year of under graduation, MSc biotechnology was newly introduced, and students had a craze for it. They introduced various subjects in that course. For example, biochemistry was a separate subject/paper. My seniors, who were good friends, were preparing for the MSc Biotechnology entrance exam conducted by JNU. They were reading Principles of Biochemistry by Lehninger, which seemed interesting while I conversed with them about genetics and biochemistry. Also, one of my professors who had gone to the UK to attend the Human Genome Conference returned with lots of literature which he gave my seniors. That got me fascinated, and a couple more of such incidents caught my interest in biochemistry and molecular biology. I realized that despite being an agriculture graduate I can still pursue my research career in molecular biology. This realization dawned on me when I noticed that the authors of those publications were from diverse fields and departments. So while applying for PhD programmes in the US, I kept my options open for various programs. Particularly how I got into molecular genetics at Ohio State University for PhD might seem very silly. Those were pre internet days. We had to write to the university to procure the application form, which was difficult considering we did not know their addresses. Coincidentally when I visited my friend in IIT Madras he offered me an extra form from the Ohio State University, enquiring if I was interested to apply. I had not planned to apply there but checked out their various departments, found molecular genetics very interesting and applied for my PhD, though it was not a serious attempt. And if not for Ohio university, the story would have remained the same because I was not even sure about my research problem. It was simply my fascination for molecular biology.
I had executed a summer internship at AIIMS in the department of biophysics for two and a half months. Summer internships in those days were not common, though today, quite unfortunately, everyone has to do it. Dr. TP Singh was very encouraging. He did not question me as to why an undergrad should work in a lab, rather he permitted me to join his lab. That environment added immense value to my learnings/understanding about research. Discussions with PhD students were extremely insightful and since I was accommodated in a research scholar’s room I could learn a lot from their conversations.
So that pretty much sums up how I landed at the Department of molecular genetics. Though it was by chance, this was bound to happen since I knew I would pursue my career in this field. I just wanted to understand how life works -the molecular basis of life.
Which books piqued your interest in science?
I was actually scared of reading books. I am saying this out loud for such kids who are like me. Until 10th I read perhaps only one book outside my syllabus. My physics teacher in Class 12 was a very interesting character, a voracious reader. We were blessed to have a teacher like him, though at that time I disliked him as a teacher as he was very old school and strict. Also, at that time, I wanted my teacher to tell me how to crack exams, and nothing else. However, would say that there is no IIT physics or IIT chemistry, there is only physics and chemistry. He would carry a book to class which he never shared with any of us.
Nevertheless, he created an intense curiosity in us to know what the book was all about. One day he came to class and said “If you are a biology student and you haven’t read this, you are not a biology student “. He was talking about In Search of the Double Helix by John Gribbin. I bought it from an old second hand book shop and that book was a page turner! I was hooked on it. Another book that made me veer towards life sciences was The Double Helix by James Watson. It was quite an expensive book but my parents bought it for me, no questions asked. I recommend these gems to all undergrads. No doubt they are controversial, involving plenty of gossip, but rest assured- you simply won’t be able to put them down, once you start reading them.
Did you ever feel like giving up on academia, and if yes then what motivated you to continue?
In my undergrad I read Lehninger’s Biochemistry cover by cover and while doing that in the reference section there were all these scientific American articles that made me realize that PhD or research in general is not a straightforward path. Culturally it has been inculcated in my mind that every journey has its challenges, but that does not mean that one should not proceed with it. Now, I remember only good things about my PhD but there are definitely one or two times that I thought “That’s it, I want to quit!” . But since I was in the US and not India, quitting meant that if it would have taken me 2-3 weeks to pack everything up and come back- and within that buffer period, something interesting always happened in the lab which made me realize that it was worth continuing and that’s how I completed my PhD.
There are three types of truths- “, known known”, “known unknown” and “unknown unknown”. The reason for the frustration is “unknown unknown”, with which even your guide cannot help you, and that is frustrating but you have to deal with it on your own. Understanding that- if an experiment does not work, then it’s not always the protocol that goes wrong, sometimes it’s our own mistakes too and,changing even a small component can make a huge difference- as a student we are always impatient and believe that everything should work the way it has been prescribed to us,but that is ’ not always the case. There are times when things don’t work out, and one needs to figure out why.
After PhD, I thought about quitting research a couple of times. After my post-doctoral tenure, I could not continue with research- but by then, I was also pursuing a career in science education and that kept me going on. Teaching is what I love doing and is now the reason I continue to remain in science.
What changes do you think are required in the current scenario of the Indian education system?
In any graduate program, not much thought is given to mentoring students. Everybody focuses on what study material should be shared. The focus is on the content and the assessment. The goal should not be in turning all students into scientists. Rather, they should be allowed to choose,while we can definitely contribute to making the journey interesting and engaging. Students should not believe it is wrong to change one’s career path or field of education. In case you are a biotechnology graduate and you see no reason nor interest in hanging onto that path, you should change your domain, confidently. It is your growth and you have to choose what is best for you. Only you can mold yourself into the best version of you.
The system should be more student oriented. This confidence should be instilled in students if this course is not working out for you something else will, because we all are trying for the sustenance of our society when seen as a larger picture.
I came to know about Academia plus today and decided to give it a read. To my surprise it is just what i have always imagined to develop or be a part of. This a great initiative for students and academicians who are in science just because of their passion.
Thanks for the kind words, Sejal! 🙂 we are glad that you find it helpful.
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