by Dr. Nikhil Phadke, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at GenePath Diagnostics

Speaker

Nikhil Phadke has over 18 years experience in the fields of Molecular Biology, Proteomics and Molecular Diagnostics. He was a core team member of HandyLab (acquired by Becton Dickinson), a highly successful microfluidics based molecular diagnostics startup in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. He founded GenePath Diagnostics with a view to bringing state-of-the-art in vitro diagnostic tests to the Indian medical community and to develop novel high quality affordable molecular diagnostic tests and platforms for the developing world. At GenePath Diagnostics, Nikhil leads a highly multidisciplinary team of clinicians, scientists, counsellors, bioinformaticians and engineers to develop and offer clinical grade molecular diagnostic tests. He has several publications in international peer-reviewed journals and also has a number of granted patents and active patent applications in the US and in India. Nikhil is frequently invited as a speaker at national and international conferences and as a reviewer for international peer-reviewed journals. In addition to founding GenePath Diagnostics, Nikhil is the founder of I-SHARE Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to innovate solutions for healthcare access, research and education. He is also the managing partner at Phadke Hospital in Pune, India – a specialty women’s and children’s hospital that has been in continuous operation since 1945. Nikhil obtained his PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Abstract

Nikhil Phadke, PhD, founder and chief scientific officer at GenePath Diagnostics will speak about his transition from an academic background to his experience in science and technology based startups in the United States, India and Türkiye. He will speak about some of the technical innovations, impacts and high and low points of his journey in bringing molecular diagnostic and genomic testing based services and products to healthcare markets across developed and developing economies. Nikhil will speak about the challenges and successes faced during his journey with a particular focus on a few marquee projects such as the HPV/ cervical cancer screening project in underserved women in the Pune area, the national spinal muscular atrophy newborn screening program in Türkiye and the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.