Pooja Piri

Final-year Integrated M.Sc. Biotechnology student (SGPA 8.92/10) with hands-on experience across analytical chemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, and computational drug-discovery methods. Two independent six-month research projects covering antioxidant/phytochemical screening and agri-residue valorization, spanning wet-lab assays through in silico modeling. Seeking to apply this cross-disciplinary lab and research skill set to a role in R&D, quality control, or applied biotechnology.

Final-Year Research Project - Valorization of Agri-Residues for Microbial Pigment Production at CIAB Mohali (2025-06 – 2025-12)

10th Semester · 6 Months

• Studied conversion of agricultural residues into value-added products, including microbial pigment and xylitol production.
• Managed sensory evaluation and quality control for a range of functional gummy formulations across multiple flavors.
• Scaled fermentation processes from 5L lab-scale to 500L pilot-scale bioreactors, gaining direct exposure to bioprocess scale-up.
• Used HPLC, GC-related chromatography, UV-Vis spectrophotometry, and refractometry for product characterization and quality analysis.

Research Project - Antioxidant Inhibitor Discovery from Cinnamomum zeylanicum Essential Oil at SOA University (2023-06 – 2023-12)

6th Semester · 6 Months

• Investigated phytoconstituents of C. zeylanicum bark essential oil as potential antioxidant inhibitors using combined experimental and computational approaches.
• Conducted DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging assays to quantify antioxidant activity of the essential oil.
• Applied in silico methods — molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, ADMET profiling, and DFT analysis — to characterize candidate compounds and predict pharmacokinetic behavior.
• Combined wet-lab and computational results to shortlist phytoconstituents with the strongest predicted antioxidant potential.

Internship - Antibiotic Resistance in Medical Microbiology & Immunology at Ethical Edufabrica Pvt. Ltd., in association with Antaragni, IIT Kanpur

• Completed a structured internship covering antibiotic resistance mechanisms within medical microbiology and immunology.

Integrated M.Sc. in Biotechnology – Siksha 'O' Anusandhan University (2021 – 2026)

Senior School Certificate Examination in CBSE, Class XII – Modern Public School (2021 – 2021)

Indian Certificate of Secondary Education in ICSE, Class X – St. Vincent's Convent School (2019 – 2019)