Profile
Santosh Mahabala
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About Me:
I live with my partner in Birmingham. I’m a medical researcher. I love cricket and chess.
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I love watching TV shows and sports. I sometimes play flute.
As most of my education was in India, I love Indian food and curry’s.
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My pronouns are:
He and him
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My Work:
I work on developing treatment for tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is one of the harmful diseases that kill about 2 million people every year. It is caused by a bacterium known as Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
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I use genetic and biochemical tools (and transparent zebrafish embryos) to understand the mechanisms of tuberculosis, especially the early stages (technically called Granuloma formation) and to develop inhibitors for these stages.
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My Typical Day:
I wake up early (around 3:30 am), freshen up and do some reading. I have breakfast (cereals and tea). I watch news and get to work around 9 am, where I do lots of experiments in the lab. Then I have (usually curry and rice) with friends.
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In the afternoon, I get back to lab to look at my results. I start some experiments for the next day and head home at 5 pm. After reaching home, I spend some time with my family knowing how their day was. We watch TV shows and news. After dinner at 7, I spend sometime reading and planning for the next day.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I have been part of developing a STEM-based podcast called Port Postdoc (Twitter: PortPostdoc), wherein we discuss research trends, global topics and engaging with public. We started it as an online podcast during the lockdown. This podcast is open for everyone. The podcast has been halted due to the lack of funds. I would like to resume this podcast, partly in collaboration with the University of Birmingham PE team. Encouraged by the I’m a Scientist programme, I am keen to include some school students and make it more accessible to them.
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Education:
All my schooling was in India.
My primary schooling was in my native town in India.
My secondary schooling (from year 6-12) was in a residential school system (called Navodaya schools) that are similar to the Grammar Schools here. These schools were funded by the Government and the selection was based on an entrance examination.
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Qualifications:
My A-level education was also in India.
My bachelors and masters were in Biochemistry.
I did PhD in Biotechnology. Here, I started research on tuberculosis.
I obtained a teaching qualification, known as AFHEA, in the UK.
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Work History:
The table summarises my career so ‘far’.
Since 2022 Research Fellow University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK 2019-2022 BBSRC Researcher Co-Investigator University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK 2017-2019 Royal Society Newton International Fellow UoB, Birmingham, UK. 2012-2017 Research Associate National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, India. 2009-2012 Post-doctoral Research Associate University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA. -
Employer:
University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
cricket-loving, curry-craving microbiologist
What did you want to be after you left school?
I wanted to be a scientist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Mathematics (especially the matrices) was never my cup of tea.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
I would have become an astronaut.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Katy Perry
What's your favourite food?
Curry... what else..
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Travel to the space station, have a beach house, visit Disney land
Tell us a joke.
Why did a scarecrow win a Nobel prize? He was 'out'standing in his field!
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