MBBS · MSc Neuroscience

Dr. Sri Harsha Guthikonda

Physician–scientist focused on neurodevelopment, cell/gene therapies, and cost-conscious clinical care.

  • Wet-lab neurodevelopment and CRISPR perturbation
  • Clinical experience with escalation, communication, and safe prescribing
  • Bioinformatics workflows for CRISPR screens and RNA-seq


Goals

Improve wet lab skills through work in neurodegeneration; pursue a doctoral degree to expand knowledge and skills for developing therapies for neurodegenerative disorders; improve teaching and quality of care with a focus on cost-effectiveness of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

pursue a doctoral degree in human neurodevelopmental genetics to develop cell/gene-based therapies in neurology;

Improve clinical research skills to become a better physician scientist; pursue a doctoral degree in human neurodevelopmental genetics to develop cell/gene-based therapies in neurology

phd in neurodevelopment, translating findings to improve teaching and quality of care, with a focus on optimizing cost ratios of diagnostics and therapeutics.

Key Skills

  • Clinical care: assessment and ongoing management of post-operative and acutely unwell patients; monitoring and escalation; safe prescribing and documentation; patient and family communication.
  • Procedures / sampling: wound care and suturing; specimen collection and handling (blood, CSF, bone marrow, tissue) with attention to infection control and sample integrity.
  • Stem cell & neurodevelopment wet lab: iPSC-derived human cortical progenitors; lentiviral transduction; CRISPR perturbation workflows; immunocytochemistry / immunohistochemistry; confocal/fluorescence microscopy; flow cytometry (FACS).
  • Bioinformatics & data analysis: whole-genome CRISPR knockout screen analysis; differential analysis and hit calling; RNA sequencing and single-cell RNA sequencing workflows; R-based data wrangling and visualisation; Linux command-line work.
  • Research delivery: experimental design and troubleshooting; standard operating procedures drafting; quality control of equipment/processes; procurement and lab operations; mentoring and supervision of trainees/students.
  • Communication & leadership: led journal club discussions, organised workshops/meetings; cross-team coordination; clear scientific writing and presentation.
Functional analysis of genes regulating human cortical progenitor dynamics Click to open in full size

Employment and Academics

2019 – 2021 — Masters in Neuroscience

University College London, UK — Prof. Rick Livesey, Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), Institute of Child Health (ICH), Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children.

  • Investigated genes involved in neuronal progenitor expansion (MED12, CTXN1) in iPSC-derived human cortical progenitors.
  • Analyzed whole-genome CRISPR KO screens to identify genes in human neurodevelopment.
  • Coursework: Receptors and Synaptic Signalling; Developmental Neuroscience; Systems and Circuits Neuroscience; Neurobiology of Degeneration and Repair.

2020 Jun – Dec — Duty Doctor

Aditya Hospitals, Hanamkonda, Warangal. Interrupted Masters to support COVID-19 response.

2018 – 2019 — Voluntary Research Assistant, Student Recruiter & Mentor

Prof. G. Madhava Reddy Research Foundation (GMRRF), Uppal, Hyderabad.

  • Recruited, oriented, and trained staff.
  • Prepared publication on PIH genetics (ACE1 I/D polymorphism) with State hospital collaboration; developed VEGF polymorphism project and pilot on seasonal PIH prevalence.
    • Publication preparation on Genetics of Pregnancy Induced Hypertension.......
    • recruited, reviewed applications, and interviewed student candidates.
    • hardware; replacements; repaired an ultra-centrifuge certified “dead”.
    • ensured quality, safety, and security compliance.
  • Mentored seven undergraduate/graduate students; organized workshops; reviewed applications and conducted interviews for student recruitment.
  • Maintained lab, QC of equipment; fabricated a 128-lane electrophoresis rig; repaired an ultra-centrifuge certified “dead”.
  • Drafted SOPs; implemented new methods, instrumentation, and procedures; procured and negotiated ordering of consumables/equipment/services.
  • Led project development, experiment execution, data analysis, and coordinated staff/admin; mentored students in research projects and report writing.

2018 Sep — Training

Cell biology and cell culture techniques, Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad.

2017 Jul – Nov — Training

Biotechnology, Prof. G.M. Reddy Research Foundation (GMRRF), Uppal, Hyderabad.

2017 May – Jun — Training

Molecular genetics (Huntington disease), GeneTech Labs, Hyderabad.

2015 – 2017 — Duty Doctor

Seven Hills Hospital, Hanamkonda, Warangal.

  • Managed post-operative and critically ill patients.
  • Assisted minor clinical procedures.

2014 – 2015 — Internship (50–80 hrs/week)

Kakatiya Medical College affiliated hospitals, Warangal.

  • Performed several minor and assisted major surgical/medical procedures, including labour conduction.
  • Data collection/analysis for thesis “Surgical Wound Gaping”.
  • Assisted theses on Diabetic Ulcer scale and Pancreatic Necrosis.
  • Rotations: CKMH (Maternity), MGMH Blood Bank, CHC (Wardhannapet), UHC (Ursu), Warangal.

2009 – 2014 — MBBS

Kakatiya Medical College, Warangal (Dr. NTRUHS).

  • Distinctions in Pharmacology, Gynaecology & Obstetrics.
  • Extensive coursework in Anatomy (cadaver dissections, histology), Neuroanatomy, Genetics, Biochemistry (clinical biomolecule quantification), Molecular Biology, Physiology (including Haematology), Microbiology (pathogen identification and microscopy), Parasitology, Pathology (gross/histological), General and Clinical Pharmacology (identification of pharmacological compounds), Immunology, Toxicology, SPM/community medicine with fieldwork and outreach.
  • Learning patient care and treatment modalities; clinical exposure across Ophthalmology, ENT, General Medicine, General Surgery (performed minor surgeries; assisted major procedures), Orthopaedics, Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology (labour conduction; assisted C-sections), Psychiatry, Dermatology, Radiology; led group discussions and mentored juniors on clinical skills, procedures, and differential diagnosis.
  • Graduated with 67.4%; among top of 2009 cohort.

2007 – 2009 — Intermediate Education

Nava Vignana Bharathi Junior College, Warangal. Majors: Physics, Chemistry, Botany, Zoology; Sanskrit as second language. Best outgoing; 97.8% in majors, 94.5% overall.

Up to 2007 — Primary & Secondary

Learners’ Land High School, Warangal. Best outgoing student; 86.0%.

Qualifying Exams

  • GRE: 314/340 (155 Verbal, 159 Quantitative, AWA 3.0).
  • IELTS: R-8.5, L-8.5, S-7, W-6.5.

Technical Skills

  • Lentiviral CRISPR; iPSC-derived human neuronal progenitors; primary culture (basics); MTT, invasion, FACS, angiogenesis, migration, efflux, and cell counts.
  • CRISPR KO screen analysis: MAGeCK, edgeR, BAGEL2, CB2; guide efficiency prediction; differential gene expression; large dataset handling (whole-genome screens).
  • Confocal/fluorescence imaging; image analysis; ICC/IHC; staining; specimen collection/handling.
  • Molecular biology: DNA extraction (blood/tissue/plants), primer design, PCR, electrophoresis, HPLC.
  • Microbiology: culture, cloning, plasmid isolation, transformation, identification.
  • Dissection & surgical skills; sampling (CSF, bone marrow, tissue, blood); biomolecule identification; staining.
  • Extensive lab work in Anatomy, Biochemistry, Physiology, Histology, Microbiology, Pathology, Haematology, Immunology; SPM fieldwork.
  • Intermediate R scripting; large dataset handling (whole-genome KO screens); data wrangling/EDA; visualization; Linux virtualization/terminal.
  • Basics in Python; NGS data analysis; bedtools; Galaxy pipelines; bioinformatics; biostatistics; SPSS; Mutation Surveyor; Chromas.
    • NGS data analysis: RNA-Seq (trimming, HISAT2, HTSeq), scRNA-seq analysis, CRISPR screen analysis, bedtools for genomic annotation, Galaxy pipelines.
  • Programming in C++; built console app for uninterrupted network connectivity and adaptive display brightness.
  • Built/configured server-grade compute machines for hospital data management/workflows.

Digital & Automation Skills

  • Rapid prototyping of small tools for research/workflow automation (Python scripting and command-line workflows).
  • Structured documentation and interactive resources (HTML/CSS/JavaScript) for organising study/research material and contact directories.
  • Comfortable working across Windows and Linux environments; reproducible analysis setups and large-file/data handling.
  • Public sharing of technical notes/tutorials (YouTube) and code/workflows (GitHub).
  • Smart-home/voice-assistant tinkering and community engagement (Home Assistant Community forum).

Achievements

  • Rank 204 in EAMCET (~60,000 candidates).
  • Rank 1763 in AIIMS Entrance Exam (~30,000 candidates).

Presentations, Seminars & Organizational Skills

  • 17 Jan 2019: Poster on functional analysis of genes regulating human cortical progenitor dynamics, UCL.
  • 2019–2021: Led presentations/discussions in Neuroscience Journal Club, UCL.
  • Nov 2014: Poster prize, “Stem Cells - Recent developments”, awarded by Ch. Mohan Rao (CCMB) at Uthkarsha, Kakatiya Medical College.
  • 30–31 Aug 2014: Communications lead for “Kakatiya Surge” CME Seminar in General Surgery, Warangal.
  • 2012: Managed registrations for State Pathology Conference on “Small Round Cell Tumours”, Kakatiya Medical College, Warangal.
  • Organized and presented seminars (“Pathogenesis of Aortic Aneurysm”, “Metabolic change after Injury”), theses, case presentations across Kakatiya Medical College hospitals.

Extracurricular Activities

Designed and fabricated ergonomic devices and equipment for physiotherapy and TENS for disabled patients; training suture kits; design and code microcontroller-based tools when time permits; swim and play chess, improving systematic analysis of critical situations.

Community Service

  • 2013: Fundraised and organized Public Health Camp at Paidipalli village, Warangal (Make Them Smile Organization).
  • 2015: Volunteered as a doctor for Arogya Sri health camp and a school camp in Fathima Nagar, Kazipet.
  • Fundraised and donated nutrition supplements; organized play for children at Spandana Home for Differently Abled, Warangal.
  • Organized blood donation camps with MGM Blood Bank, managing sample collection and screening; regular blood donor and registered organ donor (Organ India).