Bharath Balu

Bharath Balu, Ph.D. is a research scientist in the Tropical Disease Research Program in the Center for Infectious Disease and Biodefense Research in SRI Biosciences. In this role, he is leading a research program focused on antimalarial drug discovery. He employs a patented forward genetic approach to identify novel antimalarial drug targets and is also involved with several lead compound discovery programs.

Balu has almost 15 years of experience in molecular parasitology, functional genomics, and molecular and cellular biology of the malaria parasite. He has published nearly 20 research articles in esteemed scientific journals and has presented his work internationally.

Balu received his Ph.D. in biological sciences from the University of Notre Dame, his B.Sc. (Honors) in microbiology from the University of Delhi, India and M.Sc. in medical biotechnology from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India. Prior to joining SRI, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of South Florida, where he worked on forward functional genomics of the malaria parasite.