Team Spotlight: Dr. Rikita Gakhar, Ph.D., Application Scientist
“When our customers have a need, we want them to know they can think of us first and reach out to us first.” – Dr. Rikita Gakhar, Ph.D.
Dr. Rikita Gakhar earned her Ph.D. in biotechnology while in India. Her research specialization was bulk RNA sequencing specific to how bacteria helps fight fungal infections in plants. She has been working at BioChain Institute, Inc. since 2020; she started first as a volunteer and soon after transitioned to the role of Application Scientist. Her work marries research and publication with sales and marketing. She discusses her growth in the company, the importance of relationship-building in biotechnology, and exciting new opportunities on the scientific horizon.
Dr. Gakhar, what drew you to BioChain?
Dr. Gakhar: I started at BioChain back in 2020 as a volunteer. I was making this transition from graduate work to the field, trying to decide what I wanted to focus my life on, and I was about to have a baby. There was a lot going on. I remember I was really unsure whether I wanted to go back to lab work or try desk work for a change.
To cope with this transitional period, I decided to start volunteering with BioChain to stay active in the field. My role was contributing application notes and blog posts. It helped me learn about the products and advancements in the field.
BioChain showed me how my lab work was connected to people and relationships. Until that point, most of my experience had been with plants, but volunteering with BioChain gave me exposure to cancer research and cancer biology, which I found fascinating. It was close enough to what I had expertise in that I felt more than equipped to work on it, but different enough that it opened new scientific horizons for me. More than that, I developed a real interest in the products BioChain was carrying. I realized that beyond just doing the science, I really liked talking to customers about the science – I loved developing relationships and getting to know where these products were going and what discoveries they were being used for.
Once my maternity leave was over – around November of ‘22 – I applied to work at BioChain full-time in the application scientist role. I’ve been here ever since.
Can you talk a little bit about what an application scientist at BioChain does?
Dr. Gakhar: You might not expect this, but it’s all about relationship building: not just our relationship with our clients, but our clients’ relationships with the products, services, and capabilities BioChain can offer. My work primarily supports the sales and marketing team. While I do still contribute to research and publication, leveraging my scientific background, my focus is in sales. In the realm of sales, I build contracts with new customers and make sure we are meeting the needs of existing customers.
A big part of my job is presenting BioChain’s products and services holistically so that we do not get type-cast or put into a limited box. A lot of new customers don't know what we do exactly – even the existing customers may know us for a particular product, without realizing that we also provide a range of other services. I am committed to everyone knowing us for the totality of what we offer, and in turn, trying to understand all of our customers in their totality too – what do they do, and how can we fit into their workflow?
Can you talk about customer relationships and partnerships BioChain has established that really stand out to you?
Dr. Gakhar: Our partnership with 10X Genomics immediately comes to mind. They are an incredible partner to have and the evolution of our partnership and the projects we are undertaking with them has been really exciting. The partnership has grown a lot from its inception. We work together across multiple teams on a regular basis and it’s been a great experience learning from each other and developing new projects. I have particularly enjoyed working with them on the development and expansion of our spatial biology services, such as the new Visium and Xenium services.
Our approach to customer relationships is always a proactive one. When a customer reaches out to us, we know it is important to respond quickly with a mind to what exactly they're looking for, what their needs are. We value our customer’s time and want to provide the best solution. Our relationships are based on trust and quality products and services, and above everything else Science is at the heart of all our operations.
When our customers have a need, we want them to know they can think of us first and reach out to us first. One of the highlights of my year was seeing evidence that my efforts to establish those kinds of relationships had really paid off.
Where do you envision your work with biochain going in the next five years?
Dr. Gakhar: That's a great question. My big learning goal is project management. Vidya, my manager and VP of Business Development at BioChain, has been great in challenging and helping me expand my capabilities further. The atmosphere at BioChain is positive and growth-oriented, thanks to the leadership’s forward-looking and encouraging outlook. Because BioChain is a smaller company, all of us tend to wear multiple hats in a way that gives us the liberty of learning more and growing more compared to a big company where you are stuck doing one job, which can be – from experience – sometimes tiresome. I love that in this role I can look forward to always learning something new with every project.
One of the reasons I want to grow more into a project management and leadership role is that spatial biology is really exciting to me and I love seeing through these projects from start to finish.BioChain is already an adaptable, future-facing company, so that opens a lot of opportunities.
For example, we have been adding new platforms to our services and consistently planning new studies to validate these for clinical use. We have already grown and evolved over the years I’ve worked here. Knowing this gives me the confidence to pursue skills that can contribute as much as possible to that evolution.
As a scientist, are there any projects that BioChain is going to be working on in the next several years that you're really excited about?
Dr. Gakhar: Spatial biology, one hundred percent. Coming from that bulk sequencing background, I am amazed by how much my perspective on biology has grown in just one year of working with spatial.
BioChain is consistently planning studies to validate spatial biology platforms for clinical use and form partnerships with proteomics and computational companies. These collaborations will really help provide a wider scope of services to scientists around the globe. Vidya has been spearheading these. I also look forward to the ways in which BioChain can support the development of bioinformatics research to keep up with technologies like spatial. I definitely think there is a gap there, and I know that we have the tools to contribute to bridging that gap. I’m really interested in seeing how that develops in the scientific world and how BioChain will be a part of that.
You mentioned the evolution of bioinformatics research – what are some of the things currently happening in the world of biotechnology that you are most excited about?
Dr. Gakhar: I think there's a lot of amazing research happening on aging and Alzheimer's and how we can use these new emerging technologies to analyze tissues from those patients. I’d also say a personal interest of mine is the data we’ve been generating on breast cancer using 10X Genomics Xenium technology, especially now that the 5k version has been released. With the new 5000-gene panel we now have the ability to analyze biological materials with a level of depth we previously didn’t have access to. There are new innovations coming out every day.
You went through some big life changes before getting to this point. What does your role at BioChain mean to you?
Dr. Gakhar: Yeah, it's been a very interesting journey. Over the last year, I’ve really started to feel like a part of this team. We are very close-knit, too. We're always all helping each other out. It almost feels like being part of a family. It has been a very well-balanced experience so far. On the one hand, I feel comfortable and secure in the work environment and enjoy the support of my colleagues and leadership.
On the other hand, working at BioChain there are challenges every day pushing me to do more and keeping things exciting. Vidya is always bringing in new projects and challenges for the team to tackle, and that gives us the opportunity to grow for sure. I had a lot of self-doubt in the beginning, especially when talking to the customers. I had trouble trusting my instincts and knowledge. Over time, working in this environment and with this team has built my confidence. I have the experience and the education to back me up and I’m learning more every single day. It’s an amazing feeling.
What does BioChain’s 30th anniversary mean to you?
Dr. Gakhar: The longevity and resilience of this company has been so inspiring to me, especially considering the different economic ups and downs this industry has been through over the years. BioChain has been able to thrive over the last 30 years – it has maintained good relationships with customers while taking their feedback seriously. We have never stagnated, and are always improving and growing. I am so proud to be a part of a team that has contributed to the scientific landscape for so long. We’re all looking forward to the future!
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