Arusha Anupindi, Associate Scientist from Boan Biotechnology, dreamed to be a scientist when she was in high school. Recently she made a donation to her high school on behalf of Boan Biotech, which has received appreciation and recognition from her high school. We are delighted to have her to share her story, what sparkle can we see between this young and passionate scientist and Boan.

Q: Hi, Arusha, thank you very much for accepting the interview, to start with, please give us a brief introduction of yourself.

A: My name is Arusha Anupindi, I’m an Associate Scientist from Boan Boston office. I received my bachelor’s degree in 2020 and my master's degree in 2021 focusing on biotechnology from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. I joined Boan in October of 2021, started off as an intern in the cell therapy department, and then I accepted a full time position earlier this year and joined the antibody team. My role specifically is to assist the different ongoing projects and to test the antibodies by performing cell based assays. Apart from assisting with different projects, I also help maintain the cell lines and the lab overall.

Q: As we know, Boan is a company established in China, with branch offices in both China and U.S., how do you feel since you have joined this company?

A: Actually, this is my very first work experience since graduation, especially in the biotech field, I should say it's definitely my first Chinese company as well as my first company overall. It's been a great experience so far. As I have mentioned, I’m currently based in the Boston office, we have both colleagues from Boan and GeneLeap working in the same office. I think it is a great experience for me to work in a multicultural company, because I’m from a difference cultural background, my parents immigrated from India years ago. I can learn from my colleagues from different culture background, and it also brings different ideas and perspectives to the table which can help enhance productivity and problem-solving strategies. Also by working with an international team suggest the Boan team in China., it can help expand Boan name, not only in the U.S. but for foreign audiences as well.

 
Colleagues from Boston office at team bonding event

Q: It has been a year since you joined Boan, what is your takeaway so far?

A: As I mentioned, Boan is the very first company that I ever worked for in the field related to my education. I had no prior expectations before coming to Boan. It was really good to meet a great team of scientists. I get to learn a lot from them, especially education is one aspect, courses are one aspect, but labs in university are much different than this real world experience that you get. So I have a great team to help me understand how a biotechnology company operates, what I do currently is very new to me compared to what I took my courses in. I'm glad that I have that support behind me to help me understand and learn from the best and expand my knowledge in the field and make me a better scientist. I also appreciate the opportunity to give back to the community and help those in need.
 

Arusha and her collegues

Q: Recently, you donated some lab supplies and goggles to your high school on behalf of Boan. Could you share this story with us and what do you think the significance of Boan’s participation in social activities?

A: We donated some lab supplies and goggles to ASD in September. As a charter school, they actually don't have a lot of funding from the State because they are independently operated. So the school isn't able to provide as many resources for the high school students as they would hope due to the limited budget. I was told that some of their lab goggles have scratches, some glasses have bent and broken. I thought we have the supplies in our lab, and why not donate them to those who really in need. The school was really grateful for Boan’s donation, because it is really helpful for these high school students. They even posted pictures on the school’s Facebook page.

I think by doing so, it can strengthen the bond between Boan and local communities. And also, it helps to get our name out there in the public, which can help in the corporate bonding and potentially even attract and retain top talents and future scientists. Actually, Boan has attracted a lot of attention from my high school, after we made the donation to ASD, the school has contacted us about planning a field trip to our Boston office to visit Boan and GeneLeap. Students from the biotechnology class can come to our office to get a taste of what they imagine a biotech company's daily work scene to be like.
 

ASD’s posts about Boan’s donation to the school lab

Q: Talking about your high school- Academy for Science and Design (ASD), can you give us a brief introduction about this school?

A: My high school is a public charter school that's located in New Hampshire and serves grades 6 to 12. I'm proud to say it's ranked number one best high school in New Hampshire for the past 5 years and was recognized as one of the top 50 best high schools in America. In the U.S. we have both charter school and normal public school in our education system. For a charter school like ASD, it is independently operated with a freedom to design their classes, some of them have a focus on college preparation, some schools offer art-related curriculum. For my high school, it focuses on STEM-based education and provides courses like computer science and electrical engineering, and they have also added biotechnology class this year.
In comparison with normal high school, the unique thing about ASD is that aside from completing normal courses, we have two requirements to fulfill as a charter school. The first thing is, at the end of 11th grade, students have to complete an internship during the summer between 11th and 12th grade in the field that they're interested in. It could be either a company or a hospital or a nonprofit or something that can really help them geared towards what they want to do as a potential career.

The second requirement is that during the final year of high school, we need to complete a senior project which requires research and reaching out to professionals in the field on a project topic that we are interested in. So we can either present a thesis or theoretical application to the research or some that are more focused on engineering, which they like to build a model to show and demonstrate.

 
Arusha at her high school graduation ceremony

Q: Do you feel that your high school experience has actually inspired your profession?

A: Yes!  It definitely gave me a clear view on what I want to do as a career. Before 10th grade, we have to take all the basic classes. But once you hit 11th and 12th grade, you can focus more on what you want to pursue potentially. So it definitely helped me in becoming and providing me with the foundations to become the scientist I am today.

Q: Last but not least, any suggestions to the teenagers who are aspired to become scientists?
A: One of my main advices for teenagers were aspiring to be scientists or in general for any teenager. It's okay to not know what you wanna do. It's okay to not know what specific field of science you might wanna go into. But in order to have that clear focus, you should try and take as many science classes or courses in the field of interest and to know what future path might look like.

Second advice is to start gaining experience early on like ASD ‘s internship program.  It is true that a lot of companies might accept high school students or they might be a little hesitant on what kind of hands on experience they can do. But honestly any experience is considered great because that can help lead them into a better path, so hands-on experience is very important.

And lastly, don't be afraid to reach out the past alumni or professionals in the community, because connections are everything. Professionals and alumni can help guiding the students in the path that they might want to go into. Again, as I said, getting experience in a specific field can help narrow down that path that they want to potentially take and hopefully one day become a great professional in that field that they wanna go into.

Q: Thanks for your wonderful sharing, Arusha. It is great to know what Boan did for the local community and help students from your high school. Looking forward to the successful field trip to Boan, hope they can enjoy the visit to our Boston office.