Dr. Karishma Kaushik | Antibiotic Resistance
Dr. Karishma Kaushik | Doctor, Clinical Microbiologist, Scientist
We are partnering with Pune based I-SHARE Foundation to curate and host a series of STEM talks in areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine. This ‘STEM’ series, will begin with a talk by Dr Karishma Kaushik, titled “Antibiotic Resistance: the only war we need to fight”.
Talk | Dr. Karishma S. Kaushik: medical doctor, clinical microbiologist, scientist and educator
Subject: Antibiotic Resistance: the only war we need to fight
Date: Friday, 24th November, 2017
Time: 6.45 pm
Venue: The Loft Forum
KARISHMA S KAUSHIK is a medical doctor, clinical microbiologist, scientist and educator. She completed her medical degree (MBBS) and residency in Clinical Microbiology (MD) in Pune, India and earned her PhD in Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at The University of Texas at Austin, USA. For her PhD research, she worked in the critical area of antibiotic resistance, where she investigated novel strategies to overcome antibiotic resistance in bacterial populations. She is a recipient of the Ramalingswami Re-entry Fellowship (2016) and Biotechnology Career Advancement for Women Scientists (BioCARE), Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (2016). In addition, she is a Ranbaxy Science Scholar (2007), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Research Fellow (2008), and recipient of an Outstanding Teaching Award from UT Austin (2014). She currently works as teaching faculty in the Biology Instructional Office at UT Austin. India does not have dual MD-PhD programs, and her long-term goal is to pioneer a combined MD-PhD program in India, which provides cutting-edge training in both clinical and research work.
I-SHARE Foundation is a Pune-based not-for-profit organization formed with a mission to Innovate Solutions for Healthcare Access Research and Education. It was formed by three friends - Dr. Nikhil Phadke (Molecular Geneticist), Dr. Pranjali Gadgil (Breast Cancer Surgeon) and Dr. Meetali Kolhatkar Bidaye (Nephrologist) - to address gaps in the healthcare system in the areas of (i) access to healthcare and allied resources for patients and their families, (ii) targeted translational research in healthcare, and (iii) education and awareness about healthcare and recent advances for doctors, patients, students, policy-makers and the general public, and the breaking down of silos between areas in medicine, science and technology to enable a truly cross-disciplinary approach to healthcare.
In education, a key focus area for the foundation, there exist large gaps between scientific and medical knowledge that develops in research labs and academic institutions, what ends up being used in clinical practice and ultimately what percolates into the community as common knowledge. There is a need to make science more tangible and accessible to people from all walks of life. This would facilitate dialogue and learning in both directions and could open up exciting possibilities for both scientists and the community.
