WIB-Seattle Leadership Spotlight: Chirosree Bandyopadhyay

Chirosree Bandyopadhyay
Research Scientist
WIB-Seattle Sponsorship Vice Chair

Chirosree Bandyopadhyay is WIB-Seattle’s new Vice Chair for our Sponsorship Committee. She is a researcher who has worked for research institutions like Fred Hutch and Seattle Children’s, as well as biotech companies such as Nexelis and Just - Evotec Biologics.

“Very early on in childhood, I’d always been curious about all life—plant and human and insects,” she said. “Anything with life will bring questions. There’s something inspiring about finding out why, how, and what.” Chirosree’s endless curiosity sparked an extensive education in the life sciences. After earning her bachelor’s degree in plant biology and a master’s in biochemistry while she was in India, Chirosree earned her PhD in microbiology and immunology from the Rosalind Franklin University in Chicago, Illinois. She completed postdoctoral work at Yale University School of Medicine and then moved out to Seattle. Chirosree continued to do postdoctoral work in translational studies at Fred Hutch and Seattle Children’s, as well as applied her skills to companies like Nexelis and startups like Just - Evotec Biologics. Currently, she’s earning a certificate from the University of Washington that focuses on clinical trials. “I’m deeply interested in contributing to clinical research development and trial operations, bringing life-saving drugs into the market,” she said. 

Although her work experience has varied widely throughout Seattle’s established biotech scene, it was at Fred Hutch that Chirosree first heard about Women In Bio. “After the completion of my postdoc, I was so busy that I was an on-and-off WIB member for a few years,” she said. Recently, though, Chirosree rejoined WIB-Seattle and met Tanya Brown, who was the Sponsorship Chair at the time. “I learned about all the cool leadership activities that happen behind the curtain,” she said. “I learned how the great mission that WIB has is carried out. When I was educated about what is involved in what it takes to connect, I decided to be a part of it and contribute to the Seattle science community. It’s one of the best ways to help and support fellow colleagues, like fellow postdocs and scientists.”

With her experience as a researcher and a transplant to Seattle, Chirosree realized how important finding a group to network with really is. “Networking is the most important thing that we often forget. I started networking late in my career,” she said. “Often, we focus on work only because work brings us joy. But when you increase your exposure to a multidisciplinary community, you get exposed to unknown domains that you would have never heard of otherwise. When you explore, you might find that you have those new skills, and you might be already the best at it!”

Beyond attending WIB’s networking events, Chirosree also noted that there are deeper ways to get involved. "There are so many great different opportunities with the leadership roles, and even with volunteers,” she said. “You can contribute to the mission of WIB, even if you don’t have a lot of time. If you are confused about which committee to join, the best way is to join as a volunteer and stay as a volunteer associate for a few months to see if you’re interested.” Joining WIB’s leadership board aligns with Chirosree’s personal definition of success. “Success means to me working towards a dream goal,” she said. “And when such a goal is achieved, a sense of accomplishment is felt at individual contributor level as well as on a team level.”

We are so grateful that Chirosree has found her way back to WIB and is taking on a leadership role! We can’t wait to see what her perspective brings to the table and how she helps the WIB-Seattle leadership team achieve our goal of supporting and promoting women in the life sciences.

Submitted by Mariana Huben