(8l) Dynamics of Discrete Systems: At the Interface of Engineering and Medicine

Dynamics of Discrete Systems: At the Interface of Engineering and Medicine
Anwesha Chaudhury, PhD,

Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital; Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital; Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School.

Email: achaudhury@mgh.harvard.edu, anwesha_chaudhury@hms.harvard.edu

Education

Doctor of Philosophy

December 2014

Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering

Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey, NJ, USA

Masters of Technology

August 2010

Department of Chemical Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India

Bachelors of Technology

June 2008

Department of Chemical Engineering

West Bengal University of Technology, India

Research Interests:

Research experience:

I am a Chemical Engineer by training and have worked on a wide variety of research projects in various realms of basic sciences and engineering. The common denominator across all my research experiences is mathematical modeling and systems engineering. The multifaceted areas of my expertise include working on non-linear system dynamics pertaining to reaction engineering, developing mechanistic mathematical models for improving processes operation in pharmaceutical drug manufacturing, and clinical data analyses related to human pathophysiology.

During the course of my research expedition I have been interested in diverse fields in which I feel I may be able to make a significant contribution using the core skill sets of systems modeling. While working as a theoretician during my PhD, I worked closely with my experimental colleagues for developing realistic mathematical models and to better understand the underlying assumptions required for a specific model. Furthermore, I have had opportunities to become adept in various hands-on laboratory techniques including the use of a fluidized bed granulator. Towards the end of my PhD, I got drawn into the enigma of systems biology, which led me to switch fields and broaden the applications of my mathematical modeling skills.

Currently as a postdoctoral research fellow I work in an extremely multi-disciplinary environment with clinicians, biologists, chemists, engineers, and statisticians. I am leveraging my engineering training to develop models that can improve disease prognosis and alleviate the shortcomings of a delayed therapeutic intervention. Moreover, I am collaborating with experts in the field of microfluidic device development with the aim of developing a point-of-care system to detect biomarkers for sickle cell disease using single-cell measurements.

Throughout my PhD and postdoctoral journey I have received several awards and grants that exhibit my ability to secure external funding and inculcate othersâ?? interests in my research.

Research Vision:

I plant to integrate my training in various fields of engineering and medicine, with a special focus on systems engineering, by developing tools that describe hematological systems and particulate processes. In the short-term, I aim to develop data-driven population dynamics models for blood cells to predict the occurrence of diseases. Furthermore, by using this approach I intend to develop hypotheses for the underlying mechanisms of diseases. These hypotheses in turn will be investigated by performing laboratory bench experiments. I plan to integrate these models for various lineages of white blood cells in order to investigate the crosstalk within the immune system. Additionally, I plan to develop models (macroscopic, microscopic and mesoscopic) for quantitative systems pharmacology and then consolidate the dynamic behavior of the various components to study the overall pharmacodynamic behavior of the human body.

From a process systems perspective, I aspire to continue developing mathematical models for particulate systems, which can then be utilized for process control and optimization. I have significant experience with developing numerical techniques to solve complex partial differential equations, which I would like to continue incorporating into my research. One of my primary goals is to develop realistic models, which can actually be used for practical applications. With this intent in mind, I plan to continue collaborating closely with experimentalists in order to use systems engineering with a practical application.

Teaching Interests:

In addition to research, I have a keen interest in mentoring students and teaching core as well as advanced engineering topics. During the tenure of my PhD I was a teaching assistant (TA) for several courses including: transport phenomenon-I, Junior design and economics, and process control. I have derived immense pleasure and a sense of accomplishment from teaching and helping undergraduate students learn the chemical engineering curriculum. I have mentored several undergraduate and masters students, who have successfully performed research and have co-authored publications in leading peer-reviewed journals. I have persistently encouraged undergraduate students to pursue research in addition to their coursework. I enjoy teaching the core chemical engineering subjects and am extremely excited to design and teach new courses that combine the knowledge of chemical engineering, mathematics and statistics.

Research appointments:

Research fellow(February 2015-Present), Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, MA, USA;

Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, MA, USA;

Systems Biology, Harvard Medical School, MA, USA.

Advisor: John Higgins, MD.

Project: Mathematical modeling of pathophysiological processes for disease prognosis.

Graduate Student(September 2010-December 2014), Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers University, NJ, USA.

Advisor: Rohit Ramachandran, PhD.

PhD dissertation: Mathematical modeling, simulation and optimization of pharmaceutical manufacturing processes.

Exchange research student(June 2014-August 2014), Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Konstanz, Germany.

Advisor: Stefan Volkwein, PhD.

Project: Reduced order modeling and optimal control of granulation processes.

Exchange research student(July 2012-October 2012), Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering, Graz, Austria

Advisor: Johannes Khinast, PhD

Project: Investigations for particulate processes relevant to pharmaceutical drug manufacturing.

Masters student(January 2008-May 2010), Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India

Advisor: Saikat Chakraborty, PhD

MS thesis: Pattern formation in autocatalytic reactions

Awards and Honors:

February 2016, Finalist for the Life Science Research Foundation (LSRF) postdoctoral fellowship (final result pending).

May 2015, Awarded the prestigious Outstanding Graduate Student Award by the School of Engineering, Rutgers University in recognition of the achievements as a graduate student.

June 2014, Awarded the Baden-Wuerttemberg Scholarship to pursue research at

University of Konstanz, Germany.

July 2012, Awarded the Marshall Plan Fellowship to pursue research at TU Graz, Austria.

May 2012, Awarded the best poster prize at the New Jersey Pharmaceutical Association for Science and Technology graduate student poster competition.

September 2010, School of Engineering Fellowship, Rutgers University, USA.

Selected publications: (total 22, 9 first author publications, 2 book chapters)

A. Chaudhury, A. Tamrakar, M. SchÓ§ngut, D. Smrčka, F. Å tÄ?pánek, R. Ramachandran, Multidimensional population balance model development and validation of a reactive granulation process, Industrial Engineering & Chemistry Research, 2015, 54(3)

A. Chaudhury, A. Armenante, R. Ramachandran, Compartment based population balance modeling of a high shear wet granulation process using data analytics, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2015, 95

A. Chaudhury, H. Wu, M. Khan, R. Ramachandran. A mechanistic population balance model for granulation processes: Effect of process and formulation parameters. Chemical Engineering Science, 2014,107

A. Chaudhury, I. Oseledets, R. Ramachandran. A computationally efficient technique for the solution of multi-dimensional PBMs of granulation via tensor decomposition. Computers and Chemical Engineering 2014, 61

M. Sen, A. Chaudhury, R. Singh, J. John, R. Ramachandran, Multi-scale �owsheet simulation of an integrated continuous purification-downstream pharmaceutical manufacturing process, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 2013, 445(1-2)

A. Chaudhury, A. Kapadia, A.V. Prakash, D. Barrasso, R. Ramachandran. An Extended Cell-average Technique for Multi-Dimensional Population Balance Models describing Aggregation and Breakage. Advanced Powder Technology, 2013, 24 (6)

A. Chaudhury, A. Niziolek, R. Ramachandran. Multidimensional Mechanistic Modeling of Fluid Bed Granulation Process: An Integrated Approach. Advanced Powder Technology, 2012, 24

A. Chaudhury, S. Chakraborty, Dynamics of Mixing-Limited Pattern Formation in Non-Isothermal Homogeneous Autocatalytic Reactors: a Low-Dimensional Computational Analysis, Industrial Engineering and Chemistry Research, 2011, 50 (8)

Book chapters:

A. Chaudhury, D. Barrasso, Daniel A. Pohlman, James D. Litster, R. Ramachandran, Mechanistic modeling of high shear and twin screw mixer granulation processes, Modeling of pharmaceutical unit operations in solid dosage forms, Elsevier, 2016, In Press

A. Chaudhury, M. Sen, D. Barrasso, R. Ramachandran, Population balance models for pharmaceutical processes, Handbook in Process Simulation and Data Modeling in Solid Oral Drug Development and Manufacture, Humana Press, 2016, 43-83

Teaching and research mentoring experience:

September 2011-June 2012 and September 2014-December 2014: Teaching assistant

Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers University

Courses taught:

Transport phenomenon I, Junior design and economics, Process control

Personnel mentored during PhD: 

6 Undergraduate students, 2 Masters students.