Bio
Dr. Pritam Kumar Panda is an accomplished bioinformatician and researcher specializing in drug design, molecular modeling, and AI-driven protein design. Originally from India and currently based in San Francisco, California, he holds a Ph.D. in Physics, specializing in Atomic, Molecular, and Condensed Matter Physics from Uppsala University in Sweden, where his research bridged quantum and biological phenomena, particularly in bio-inspired materials modeling. With a strong academic background that includes a Master of Science from Utkal University and a Master of Technology from D Y Patil University in India, Dr. Panda has honed his expertise in computational methods for drug design.
Throughout his career, Dr. Panda has held impactful roles in bioinformatics at institutions such as the University Medical Center Freiburg in Breisgau, Germany (2017), Karolinska Institute, Sweden (2021), and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany (2023). His work in these roles includes developing advanced NGS data analysis pipelines using R, Bash, and Python and integrating cloud computing (AWS) with Nextflow, Docker, Singularity, and Snakemake for workflow automation, markedly enhancing data processing efficiency. His expertise spans molecular modeling, drug design, biophysics, multiomics data management, and high-performance computing, with notable contributions to predictive models in clinical genomics and data visualization.
In addition to his institutional roles, Dr. Panda founded and led Nerdalytics (2021-2023), a bioinformatics consultancy serving the pharmaceutical industry. Under his leadership, the firm focused on delivering cutting-edge solutions in drug design and molecular modeling. One of his significant achievements during this time was securing a research grant from Colgate-Palmolive to develop a pipeline for combinatorial synergy-based drug design targeting photoaging and hyperpigmentation.
An advocate for education and knowledge sharing, Dr. Panda is a recognized Nextflow ambassador and a member of Sigma Xi. He actively contributes to the bioinformatics community through publications, mentoring, and creating instructional content on platforms like YouTube. His excellence in the field has been acknowledged through multiple awards and grants from institutions like the Karolinska Institute and Uppsala University. He has also been featured in The Global Indian series "Indians in Europe" for his contributions to science and technology.
Currently, Dr. Panda serves as a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. His current research is centered on the development of novel, battlefield-ready anesthetics to reduce injury-associated trauma and improve combat casualty outcomes. His research combines AI-driven protein design with high-throughput virtual screening to accelerate drug discovery and design safer anesthetic agents. His work also aims to unravel the poorly understood neural and molecular mechanisms of anesthesia, with the ultimate goal of creating drugs that are significantly safer than current options, enabling unmonitored use in battlefield conditions.
