RENUKA SONAK

**** *** **., *** ******** way, Andover, MA 01810 978-***-**** ac1yi7@r.postjobfree.com EDUCATION

NAGPUR UNIVERSITY Nagpur, India

M.Sc. in Biotechnology 2005

Thesis: Gene Tagging and Cloning of Cotton Leaf Curl Virus Resistant Gene. Mentor: Dr. Amudha Jaggannathan, Senior Scientist (Biotechnology) B.Sc. in Biotechnology 2003

Thesis: Callus induction in Phyllanthus amarus a medicinally important plant. RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

HARVARD UNIVERSITY BOSTON, USA

Volunteer Researcher at Prof.Elena Kramer’s lab, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology Dept, 1STSept2016

Working on project to build a database of 1KP transcriptomes and Phytozome genomes

Worked on evolutionary biology of floral parts of Aquilegia and Arabidopsis plants using molecular biological tools.

Skill sets- carry In-Situ Hybridization and Virus-induced gene silencing method, Yeast Transformation, colony PCR, specific construct such as ARF6,ARF8,SHY2,TRV1,TRV2-VIGS PCR, sub-cloning,TOPO- Cloning, RNA isolation, C-DNA isolation, restriction digestions, plasmid isolation,

Plants stage maintenance at growth chambers.

UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA Vancouver, Canada

Research Assistant (Volunteer) at Prof.Loren Rieseberg lab, Biodiversity Research Center, Feb 2016-Aug 2016

Standardized protocol for agrobacterium mediated transformation in sunflower using three different reporter genes ( EYFP, GFP, GUS)

Reviewed research literature, suggesting and incorporating vital step changes in the protocol. Established new lab for plant tissue culture.

Sunflower Breeding process like potting, sowing, flower-seed collection, seed cleaning, phyllaries collection for phenotyping studies

Research Assistant (Volunteer) at Prof. Isman Murrey lab, Faculty of Land and Food Systems,Entomology Feb2016- Aug2016

Studied effects of economical bio-essential oils bioassays utilizing agricultural pests ( spider mites, aphids, loopers) and a public health pest (bed bugs) aimed at the development of plant-based pest management products (botanical insecticides, repellents and deterrents)

Maintained bean and cauliflower plants at greenhouse.

Maintain laboratory colonies of insects and mites and their host plants

Preparation and conduct of bioassays.

MONSANTO RESEARCH CENTER Bengaluru, India

Consultant Scientist Oct 2010 – Aug 2012

Worked in transformation technology platform on agrobacterium mediated transformation in corn using corn (cob) embryos to screen expression of 300–400 promoters.

Maintained and updated Saturn (transformation manager) database for transformation-related experiment management.

Tracked inventory of consumable items and ensured timely stock replenishment.

Contributed to analysis and remediation of safety and operational issues as member of incident analysis team. Initiated monthly report on incident analysis and remediation.

Participated on computational biology team to enhance the other teams on site knowledge base through Vigyana Portal.

Supported team efforts to increase transformation efficiency from 15–21%.

Recognized as first member at lab to initiate the standardization of cotton transformation through agrobacterium-mediated method.

CENTRAL INSTITUTE FOR COTTON RESEARCH (CICR) Nagpur, India Senior Research Fellow Jan 2007 – Oct 2008

Supervised research graduates in plant biotechnology and molecular biology dissertation projects.

Handled three critical and vital Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) development projects simultaneously, including:

Transgenics for insect resistance.

CLCuV transgenics for virus resistance.

Molecular mapping of leaf curl virus resistance gene in cotton genome; developed transgenics till F2 population.

RENUKA SONAK 978-***-**** ac1yi7@r.postjobfree.com PAGE TWO RESEARCH EXPERIENCE – continued

INNOVATIVE BIOSCIENCES (IB) Nagpur, India

Laboratory Technician Jan 2006 – July 2006

Gained expertise in techniques aimed at quality control of seeds, handling 96–480 seed samples simultaneously.

Supervised and participated in Bt expressing dipstick (1000s) production and Bt quantitative ELISA kit (25– 50 nos) assembling.

Trained ~30 undergraduate and graduate students in molecular biology and immunological techniques. KEY SKILLS SUMMARY

Molecular Marker Technology: Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR).

Agrobacterium-mediated transformation techniques: Six different constructs: Bt genes-cry1Ac, cry1F, cry1 Aa3 and CLCuV genes- SCP, ACP, A.Rep.

Plant Tissue Culture: Seed sterilization and inoculation, explant cutting, excision of explants and sub culturing at shooting and rooting Medias, different media, stocks preparations, autoclaving Biochemical Assays and Biophysical techniques: GUS staining, Southern Blotting, Isoelectric focusing (IEF), Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)

Molecular Biology Techniques: Genotyping for Bt genes-cry1Ac, cry1F, cry1Aa3 and CLCuV genes- SCP, ACP, A.Rep, cloning

Languages: English (fluent), Hindi (native), Marathi (native) AWARDS / RECOGNITION

MONSANTO RESEARCH CENTER

3rd Prize in International Poster Competition on Safety Measures 2011 NATIONAL SEMINAR ON 2ND GREEN REVOLUTION: NECESSARY OR COMPULSION AT ANGRAU 1st Prize for Poster Presentation 2008

NAGPUR UNIVERSITY

1st Prize in Life Science Poster Competition 2004

RENUKA SONAK 978-***-**** ac1yi7@r.postjobfree.com PAGE THREE VOLUNTEERSHIP

AL-NOOR, A SPECIAL CHILDREN SCHOOL Dubai, UAE

Volunteer Jan 2009 – Sept2009

Instructed carpentry and printing to 5–14-year-old mentally challenged students. PUBLICATIONS

Peer-Reviewed Journal

Amudha J, Malathi VG, Balasubramani G, Renuka S, Deshpande LA, Khadi BM. 2008. Development of leaf curl virus resistance transgenics in Cotton. Indian Journal of Virology, 19(1): 124. Abstracts

Renuka S, Balasubramani A. 2010. Development of cotton transgenics with antisense rep gene for resistance against leaf curl virus. In: Proceedings of the National Symposium on "Bt Cotton: Opportunities and Prospects." Central Institute for Cotton Research; Nagpur, India: Nov 17–19, 2010. G. Balasubramani, J. Amudha, Chandrasen Lilhare, Rajshree Korde, Renuka Sonak, V. V. Singh and B. M. Khadi2008. Genetic transformation using Bt cry 1 genes through Agrobacterium mediation in G. hirsutum cultivars. In: Proceedings of the National Seminar on "2nd Green Revolution: Necessary or Compulsion?" Acharya N.G.Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU); Adilabad, India: Oct 19–20, 2008. Dr. G.Balasubramani, Renuka Sonak, J. Amudha and V. V. Singh2008. Gene Revolution for Second Green Revolution. In: Proceedings of the National Seminar on "2nd Green Revolution: Necessary or Compulsion?" Acharya N.G.Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU); Adilabad, India: Oct 19–20, 2008. J.Amudha, V.G.Malathi, G.Balasubramani, Renuka. S, L.A. Deshpande and B. M.Khadi2007. Development of transgenic cotton for leaf curl virus resistance. In: Proceedings of the International Conference of Indian Virological Society: "Emerging and re-emerging viral diseases of the tropics and subtropic." Indian Agricultural Research Institute; New Delhi, India: Dec 11–14 2007. Renuka Sonak, J.Amudha. 2007. Gene Tagging and Cloning of Cotton Leaf Curl Virus Resistant Gene. In: Proceedings of the National Conference on Current Trends in Biochemistry. Nagpur University; Nagpur, India: Dec 27–29 2007.

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