CamBioScience Interviews
May 2015
Interview with Dr. Mohan C Vemuri,
Director of R&D,
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Interview with Dr. Mohan C Vemuri, Director
of R&D at Thermo Fisher Scientific
CamBioScience Interviews
May 2015
How did you become interested in working in
industry? What specifically led you to your
current position as R&D Director of Cell
Biology at Thermo Fisher Scientific?
The zeal to translate fundamental discoveries in
science towards translational and applied
science and turn discoveries into products that
can be used by researchers globally – making it
easy for them to succeed in what the
researchers are pursuing.
What single piece of advice would you give to
post-docs wanting to start a career in the life
sciences industry?
Match your passion in science and identify
industry where your interests are also supported
in growth and emerging opportunities of
sciences.
What moment during your PhD do you
remember most and why?
I was working on cerebral cortex energy meta-
Short Biography of Dr. Vemuri
Dr. Mohan Vemuri has had a long and
distinguished career at the forefront of
academic and Biotech research and
development. He is currently the Director
of Research and Development for Cell
Biology in Thermo Fisher Scientific, who
just over 1 year ago completed
acquisition of another Biotech giant, Life
Technologies. Dr. Vemuri leads R&D in
the development of GMP-manufactured
stem cell products for research use and
cell therapy applications in the areas of
human iPSC, adult stem cells and
downstream differentiation to cell specific
lineages. Before taking on his current role
Dr Vemuri had a faculty position at
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and
bolism as a part of my PhD work – when I
noticed exposure to nicotine can really suck up
the whole energy cycle by transient high
succinate dehydrogenase levels – It was a
and focused on novel ways of introducing
fetal genetically engineered hematopoietic stem cells for blood and bone
marrow transplantation (BMT), that
enhanced self-renewal, engraftment and
immune reconstitution. He also worked as
faculty at Thomas Jefferson Medical
School, and developed novel cell
screening assay systems for drug
discovery for Parkinson’s disease. Dr
Vemuri regularly collaborates with
researchers in academia and industry,
striving towards the successful utilisation
of stem cells in regenerative cell
therapies. He holds a PhD in Cell Biology
and performed his postdoctoral work at
the National Institutes for Health.
depression and addiction. This has been my
first real moment of application of science into
practical real life of what to use and what not
to use.
“There is no industry without academics
and fundamentals of science. Similarly
industry can speed up the science
pursuits in academia world. ”
quick and ‘aha’ moment to know this is how
cigarettes spike up, stimulate and lead to
What has been your most
satisfying achievement since
becoming director of R&D at
ThermoFisher?
Developing a quite a number
of products that enable stem
cell research, scientifically still
publish, as if it is still in
academic setting while
working for business world in
a tight corporate environment, where
deadlines are critical.
Do you think there is a need to improve or
strengthen relations between academia and
industry?
Absolutely. There is no industry without
academics and fundamentals of science.
Similarly industry can speed up the science
pursuits in academia world. This interrelation
and symbiosis is very important.
At CamBioScience, we are extremely
grateful that Dr. Vemuri was gracious enough
to take some time out of his incredibly busy
schedule to offer us some of his words of
wisdom! Post-docs and PhD’s take heed!
About CamBioScience:
CamBioScience is a Cambridge (UK) based consultancy firm comprised of PhD trained
scientists physicians and biotech entrepreneurs with experience spanning a wide-array of
disciplines including stem cell biology, biotechnology, pharmacology, physics, business and
finance. We are the next-generation of scientific business analysts: market-aware, forwardthinking innovators set to revolutionise consultancy in the Healthcare and Biotech sectors by
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