In this chapter of Career Stories, we bring you the story of Sunil Nagpal, who is a computational biologist with a strong passion for science communication, which he explores through his Science communication series called #MicrobiomeMondays on LinkedIn as well as Twitter. In this candid chat, he talks at length about his journey as a science communicator, why it is essential for scientists to indulge in communicating their data to the general society and shares his views about the role of data science and machine learning in aiding biology/microbiology research.
Could you take us through your professional journey so far?
My professional journey commenced quite early back in 2003, as I took on the responsibility of tutoring primary and secondary school students while I was in 8th grade. This experience, apart from providing a much needed financial support, was priceless, as it helped shape my skills and interest in social communication. I received my entire school education from Army School, Fazilka (my hometown), where emphasis was profound on the core values of discipline, patience and perseverance. A lot of credit goes to my mother, grandfather and other kind souls who ensured continuity and quality of my education.
Upon completing my undergraduate degree (B.Tech) in Biotechnology at LPU in Punjab, I qualified for GATE 2010 and 2011, that helped me secure a place in the Department of Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi in the MS (Research) program. One of the many highlights of my time at IIT Delhi was the student-managed placement cell, responsible for inviting companies to the campus. I had volunteered to serve as the placement coordinator for my department, a decision I would confidently make again if given the chance to revisit those days.
A memorable milestone in my career occurred on December 12, 2012 (12/12/12), when I received a job offer from TCS Research’s Life Science R&D for the role of a Researcher. It has been a decade, and I now humbly hold the title of Senior Scientist and Principal Investigator at TCS R&D, focusing on the Microbiome and Data Science research areas. I am also pursuing industry sponsored doctoral research at CSIR IGIB, India.
The majority of my research endeavors have been computational in nature, encompassing extensive clinical, genomic and metagenomic data handling, machine learning, network biology, and natural language processing, among other fields. The primary objective of our research is to uncover the intricate role that the vast micro-cosmos, or microbiome, plays in regulating the health of humans and their environment. I am particularly drawn towards exploring the vast spectrum of microbial social communication, genome language modeling, and the tumor microbiome.
It may amuse you to know that during my time as a Biochemical Engineering student at IIT Delhi, my exposure to computational research was very limited. However, despite my relatively minimal experience in the field, I was fortunate enough to be hired for a core computational job. Reflecting on my journey as someone who has since interviewed numerous candidates across various domains, I can safely say that hiring decisions often hinge on the attitude and aptitude candidates bring to the table.
More often than not, a candidate’s agility and adaptability in acquiring new and uncharted skills is given a lot of importance. I hope this may bring home a realization and assurance that your educational background does not dictate the scope of your opportunities. With the right mindset and dedication to learning, there is no skill beyond your reach, and no limit to what you can achieve in your professional life.
What piqued your interest in science communication?
Ever since I was a young tutor, I have had a tendency for communication. As a child, I was always captivated by tales, eagerly listening with my palm placed under my chin. During my school years, I was involved in theatre and founded ‘Biotheatre’ in college. To this day, my presentations concentrate on the underlying story that drives a theme and I find great contentment in the moments of telling those tales. My job fuels this interest even further. Every project that we undertake has a fascinating story to be unfolded and told.
How do microbes dictate the nature of pregnancy (term or preterm)?
How does fasting influence the complex interactions among the host microbiota?
How does the tumor- microenvironment influence the microbial ecology?
These are some of the projects that I have actually worked on and I can’t imagine explaining my research to anyone without emphasizing on the curiosity that drives these research problems and how we connected the dots to rightly place even one piece of a puzzle. Science communication has perhaps/likely been a natural development of my profession and overall enthusiasm for recounting tales.
Should scientists consider publicizing their study and its implications as a regular aspect of their job? What are your opinions on this question?
Instead of viewing scientific communication as publicity, I believe scientists should consider sharing their research and its implications as a vital form of expression and outreach. By openly discussing the journey, discoveries, struggles and successes behind their studies, one can not only contribute to society but also foster their own growth. Firstly, this process can help develop essential scientific communication skills, ensuring that even the most complex subjects can be understood by a wider or lay audience. Secondly, sharing research can facilitate connections with individuals who hold similar or opposing views, potentially leading to fruitful collaborations and advancements in the field. And third, positive public image emerging out of one’s eagerness to express their science quite often places scientists as approachable figures who are eager to engage with others and share their expertise.
I would therefore indeed opine that an active dissemination of research findings should be considered an integral aspect of a scientist’s role, for it promotes both personal development and societal progress.
What are the unanswered topics you’d want to see resolved in your field of Computational Biology (Microbiome Science)?
I am particularly passionate about exploring the different ways in which microorganisms communicate socially in their natural or artificial habitats. How do they sense the changes to their environment, and how do they interact with other members of their community when their environment has changed? Could this social network of microbes be manipulated in order to rectify an imbalance, create useful compounds, or produce molecules of interest? I’m fascinated by the social lives of these organisms and will continue to search for answers and insights.
How do you feel that data science and machine learning are going to assist/advance the life sciences (specifically microbiology) research?
If we look back, DS/ML have been assisting life science research for decades. Calibration curves for predicting the concentrations in unknown samples by comparing them to the values of known or standard samples is such a simple and beautiful example of data science and machine learning that every biologist has, quite unknowingly, for ages been practicing in their lab!
The evolution of computers and increasing storage and compute power have made it easier to process and manage data today, much of which in the past was managed manually or painstakingly in legacy Excel sheets. This, coupled with the advancement in technologies like Next-generation sequencing (NGS), generating petabyte scale of genomic and metagenomic data, have only made the influence of data science more profound on life science and particularly microbiological research.
Sharing my own experiences – we have employed Data Science and ML routines to:
1) Develop predictive models for cancer diagnosis using inherent microbial signatures
2) Predict the day of delivery of an unborn child using mother’s microbial profile
3) Develop agent based models for microbial social communication
4) Prepare massive databases of microbial functions to accelerate drug discovery
5) Develop digital twins of human organs like gut and simulate microbial metabolism within said twins for nutritional recommendations, probiotic formulations and more
6) Employ explainable AI to enable predictive prognosis of various diseases including SARS-CoV-2 infection
7) Develop language models of genomic datasets using natural language processing
So, while algorithms and data science methodologies have been around for a long time, it’s only recently that the means to use them at a large scale have become available. I therefore would not get surprised by further cross pollination of ideas from Data science to (Micro)Biology.
Ultimately, data science is just a tool – identifying a problem, finding the right solution, and making sure the machine is picking the right patterns requires domain expertise.
How would you urge young/early-career scientists to pursue a career in scientific communication/journalism? What advice do you wish you had received when you first started out?
I have always been a firm believer of the cosmic realm. Given the immense size of the universe, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed while living on this small pale blue dot, i.e. Earth. Although it is perhaps difficult to explore and understand the entire cosmos during our individual lifetimes, we can still broaden our perspectives by connecting with different timelines. One way to do this is through communication, either scientific or otherwise. If science interests you, sharing your own knowledge or the knowledge that exists, with the public can increase your enthusiasm for the subject. For me, science communication is not a requirement of my job but something I do in my free time as a hobby. Most of my day is devoted to investigating the scientific concepts in genomics/metagenomics and analyzing the data pertaining to them. I consistently lean towards sharing my knowledge and often the excitement about my research. This probably enables me to easily share what I find interesting about microbiomes and related areas. I may not be the best person to advice anyone about a career in science communication, however from my personal experience, I find it highly gratifying. If you are someone who loves to interact with people, if you love to read, love to deliver public talks, if you find yourself with an insatiable appetite for knowledge, then without any doubt a career in science communication will be best suited to cater to each of the above interests, for you!
About the advice that I wish I should have received when I started out – To be true, I started receiving advices only after I started SciComm and those were in fact quite relevant given the juncture at which I was in my scientific communication journey.
One of the most valuable and well placed advice that I continue to cherish is, “Do not get influenced by the magnitude of response to your outreach activities. You started it with an intrinsic motivation, ensure that you continue to do it, without being bothered by either a limited or an extraordinary response”.
