I am Srijana Bastakoti from Nepal. I came to Norway to pursue a master’s degree in 2017 and since then I am here. The only good thing that happened to me during corona year 2020 is getting a PhD from UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. My main objective in life is to expand skills and experience in scientific research work related to applied science, medical health, and to form a self owned organization that will work towards creating scientific reforms in developing country like Nepal. I have always had a great enthusiasm to carry out research in medical and health science and to make something Nobel for the world.
I have a background mainly in microbiology, Molecular biology, and biotechnology with an emphasis on laboratory work. I was very lucky to be part of the ScandTick Innovation EU Interreg project ‘Next Generation Sequencing of Tick Borne Encephalitis Virus (TBEV) and Mosquito Borne Viruses’ at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH). We have published whole genome sequencing of two European TBEV for the first time. During my internship period at NIPH, working under this project, I have increased my avid interest in the field of molecular biology. I realized that my understanding and knowledge on virus, viral genome, coding and noncoding RNA, TRNA/TNA extraction, PCR, whole genome sequencing (Illumina), bioinformatics, and laboratory handling have improved. Now I have a PhD position that is all about dealing with next generation sequencing data analysis. My research work will be heavily focused on exploring omics science from host pathogen interactions model.
In addition, I also have interest in plant pathology and Biocontrol agents. I was enrolled in the plant pathology laboratory for the identification and diagnosis of fungal, bacterial and viral disease in the field crop. I have published my research work ‘Trichoderma species as a biocontrol agents against soil borne fungal pathogens’ in the 5th issue of Nepal Journal of Biotechnology as a main corresponding author. This laboratory practice has burgeoning my knowledge in molecular pathology along with the skill in working and handling the sample for diagnosis. I believe that
SUCCESS we ACHIEVE is the SUM of small EFFORTS!!
