91ÊÓƵ

Aryan Sharan Guda (he/him)

Mellon College of Science

Master of Science in Quantitative Biology and Bioinformatics

Hometown: hyderabad, telangana, india

1. Briefly describe the work you're doing in your program at 91ÊÓƵ.

   At 91ÊÓƵ, I work on a very interesting problem: AI-driven protein design in Professor Lei Li’s lab. Currently, we’re working on target-conditioned protein design with a lab at the University of California, Santa Barbara. I am involved in the development, training, and evaluation of AI models. Earlier computational methods laid the foundation for protein structure prediction and de novo protein design, but recent advances in AI have made these processes faster, more accurate, and more scalable. Our work aims to generate candidate protein designs in a few seconds. We filter these generated candidates based on well-established metrics. Promising candidates can then be synthesized and experimentally tested for their intended function.

2. How did you develop an interest in this area? 

   While preparing for a highly competitive engineering entrance examination, JEE Advanced, I developed a taste for mathematics. Biology, on the other hand, has always fascinated and puzzled me since my school days. I wanted to work in a field where mathematics could be leveraged to solve biological problems. While I was an undergraduate in bioinformatics in India, carving out my niche, I came across news headlines about the creators of AlphaFold2 being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. I looked into what AlphaFold2 was, who created it, and how it achieved a level of accuracy that had previously seemed out of reach. It was a quantum leap in this field.

3. What are your academic and/or professional goals? 

   I hope to further my studies by pursuing a PhD and contributing to the field of fast, accurate AI-driven protein design and protein structure prediction. After completing my PhD, I want to work with like-minded people in academia and industry to develop new techniques for biomolecular design and structural biology.

4. How do you spend your time beyond academic work?

   I work out, talk to family and friends, and cook a lot. I love reading books and writing down my thoughts, beliefs, dreams, and aspirations. I love exploring new music. Whether through academics or my hobbies, I guess I enjoy exploring new ideas and articulating my thoughts.