Ep. 12 : Conversation with Nagaraj Balasubramanian - Cell Biologist with a sense of Aesthetics

Nagaraj is a cell biologist and an Associate Professor of Biology at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune. He is a scientist who interfaces with society and has a keen sense of aesthetics and love for music. His webpage : https://www.adhesionlab.com/public He is on twitter : https://twitter.com/AdhesionLab. In this conversation, we discussed various things including ·     his biography ·     importance of school teachers ·     growing up in the-then Bombay ·     reading widely as student ·     background in microbiology ·     transition to cell-biology ·     doing PhD in cancer hospital ·     impact it had in on his research ·     importance of being curious ·     importance of stupidity in science ·     his transition from US to India ·     research on cellular matrix ·     connection to mechano-biology ·     multidisciplinary aspect of his work ·     elements of aesthetics ·     his deep interest in design ·     how to adapt your research to Indian ecosystem ·     sociological aspects of doing research in India ·     his outreach activities ·     his initiatives with Spic Macay ·     'great nation deserves great art' ·     a remarkable story on a concert by Vishwa Mohan Bhatt ·     emotion that music evokes ·     small segment in his mother tongue - Tamil ·     recitation of Hindi poem ·     engagement with art ·     interdisciplinary approaches towards research problems ·     some projects in outreach    References: adhesionlab. “HOME.” Accessed July 14, 2023. https://www.adhesionlab.com. adhesionlab. “NAGARAJ.” Accessed July 14, 2023. https://www.adhesionlab.com/public. “Martin Schwartz, PhD.” Accessed July 14, 2023. https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/martin-schwartz/. Sand Mandala: Tibetan Buddhist Ritual, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBrYUlOYK0U. “The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research.” Journal of Cell Science 121, no. 11 (June 1, 2008): 1771. https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.033340. Schwartz, Martin A. “The Importance of Indifference in Scientific Research.” Journal of Cell Science 128, no. 15 (August 1, 2015): 2745–46. https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.174946. Schwartz, Martin A., and Alpha S. Yap. “The Importance of Character Development in Scientific Research.” Journal of Cell Science 136, no. 13 (July 5, 2023): jcs261405. https://doi.org/10.1242/jcs.261405. “Spicmacay IISER Pune.” Accessed July 14, 2023. https://www.facebook.com/SpicmacayIISERPUNE. “Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.” In Wikipedia, July 14, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vishwa_Mohan_Bhatt&oldid=1165336574. “इस पार उस पार - हरिवंशराय बच्चन| Is Paar Us Paar - Harivansh Rai Bachchan. काव्यालय| Kaavyaalaya: House of Hindi Poetry.” Accessed July 18, 2023. https://kaavyaalaya.org/ipup. -----