When you ask a child what they want to be you can expect a variety of answers. Many of them may be what their parents want for them too. They may say they want to be doctor, lawyer, astronaut, or athlete. But there are also children who want to become scientists when they're older. Bharath Balu was fortunate enough to hold the title of a scientist for a period of time.
Bharath Balu studied the sciences while he was a college student. He first studied microbiology as an undergrad and earned his bachelor's degree with honors from the University of Delhi. Knowing that he wanted to continue in the science field he continued his education at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India. He earned his master's degree in medical biotechnology.
Bharath Balu then put the finishing touches on his educational track to becoming a scientist when he earned his Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of Notre Dame. After completing his Ph.D. Bharath Balu had plenty of years of education to start work as a fulltime scientist. While studying the malaria parasite may not be a child's dream job as a scientist, it is what Bharath Balu devoted his scientific research to.
He began work as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of South Florida where he worked on the forward functional genomics of the malaria parasite. His work on the infectious disease made it an easy transition for him to move to SRI International where he continued his research on malaria. It was Bharath Balu's hope that studying the molecular and cellular makeup of the malaria parasite would allow him to find a way to create a drug that would combat the infectious disease. Bharath Balu is proud of the work he accomplished as a research scientist. For any child who dreams to become a scientist, Bharath Balu's best recommendation is to work hard in school.
