Ambika Bumb

Ambika Bumb is the CEO and Founder of Bikanta.[1] Bumb is a nanomedicine specialist and Marshall Scholar whose work spans uses of a variety of types of nanotechnology for the detection of treatment of disease. Her discoveries using nanodiamonds while working as postdoctoral researcher at the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute led to the launch of the biotech Bikanta.[2][3]

Ambika Bumb
Alma materUniversity of Oxford (PhD)
Georgia Institute of Technology (BME)
Occupation
  • CEO
  • Engineer
  • Scientist
OrganizationBikanta
HonorsMarshall Scholar

Early life

Bumb was born to Indian Jain[4] parents who immigrated to the United States for higher education.[5] Her father was one of the earliest in his family to complete his Doctor of Philosophy degree and her mother the first female in her town to go to college.[5] Her maternal-grandfather was a veterinarian.[5][4] Bumb graduated as from Southside High School as valedictorian in 2002, where her younger sister and brother also followed her as valedictorians.

Career

Bumb graduated in 2005 from Georgia Tech with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering and a Minor in Economics from Georgia Institute of Technology, while being recognized with the Helen E. Grenga Outstanding Woman Engineer and E. Jo Baker President's Scholar Awards.[6][7] With an early interest in nanomedicine, she conducted research focused on tracking quantum dots in bone and cartilage while also being an active leader in various campus organizations.

In 2008, Bumb completed her doctorate in Medical Engineering in three years from University of Oxford while also on the prestigious Marshall Scholarship and NIH-OxCam Program.[8][9] Her doctoral work brought together 4 labs from 2 institutes, 4 fields, and 2 countries. She developed a triple-reporting nanoparticle and showed the technology's transferability across different disease types with studies in cancer and multiple sclerosis. The magnetic nanoparticles demonstrated strong potential in cancer diagnostics and therapy.[8][10] Upon graduation, she continued to go on to two post-doctoral fellowships at the National Cancer Institute and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. She has received much recognition for excellence in engineering and was profiled early in her career in Nature as a successful young scientist on the fast-track.

Her breakthroughs in the areas of nanomedicine and diagnostics have led to multiple patents, publications, and the spin out of the biotech Bikanta[7] that is using nanodiamonds to allow academics and doctors to study and address disease at the cellular level. Nanodiamonds are next generation imaging probes[11] trailblazing cutting-edge research including applications with the recent Nobel Prize in Chemistry for super-resolved fluorescence microscopy and utility in portable cancer detection devices. Bikanta is one of the first biotechs to be funded by Y Combinator, winner of the Silicon Valley Boomer Venture and CapCon Competitions, a California Life Science Institute's FAST Awardee, and named 1 of 4 Best Diagnostics Startups of 2015 by QB3.

Complementary to her scientific and commercial interests, Bumb has also been involved in national science policy initiatives, particularly related to nanotechnology.[12]

Bumb was featured as a female role model to empower young girls by Career Girls.[13] She has been appreciated in various interviews, including by Nature at the Naturejobs Career Expo, San Francisco[14][15] and in an interview by WeFunder.[16]

Selected works

Papers
  • Macromolecules, Dendrimers, and Nanomaterials in Magnetic Resonance Imaging: The Interplay between Size, Function, and Pharmacokinetics[17]
  • Synthesis and characterization of ultra-small superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles thinly coated with silica[18]
  • Synthesis of a Cross-Bridged Cyclam Derivative for Peptide Conjugation and 64Cu Radiolabeling[19]
  • Macromolecular and dendrimer-based magnetic resonance contrast agents[20]
  • Wide-field in vivo background free imaging by selective magnetic modulation of nanodiamond fluorescence[21]
  • Silica Encapsulation of Fluorescent Nanodiamonds for Colloidal Stability and Facile Surface Functionalization[22]
  • Trafficking of a Dual-Modality Magnetic Resonance and Fluorescence Imaging Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide-Based Nanoprobe to Lymph Nodes[23]

Inventions
  • Silica-Coated Nanodiamonds for Imaging and the Delivery of Therapeutic Agents[24]
  • Fluorescent Nanodiamonds as Fiducial Markers for Microscopy[25]
  • Background-Free Fluorescent Nanodiamond Imaging[26]

Personal life

Bumb practices Jainism[5] and has been a dancer from an early age.

Awards and recognition
  • Marshall Scholarship[2]
  • The Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni Award - Georgia Institute of Technology[6]
  • Orloff Science Award for Technical Achievement - National Institutes of Health
  • National Institutes of Health-Oxford Cambridge Scholarship in Biomedical Sciences
  • Georgia Institute of Technology President's Scholarship
  • Aspen Health Forum Fellow
  • Helen E. Grenga Outstanding Woman Engineer Award
  • E. Jo Baker Award for outstanding President's Scholar
  • Omicron Delta Kappa Award for Outstanding Leadership
  • Women In Engineering Excellence Award
  • Akamai Foundation Award through the Mathematical Association of America
  • Winner of Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit
  • Winner of CapCon Business Competition

References
  1. Russon, Mary-Ann (August 18, 2014). "Microscopic Diamonds Are Lighting The Way to Early Cancer Detection". International Business Times UK. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  2. "NIH Marshall Scholarships". Marshall Scholarship. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  3. "All Inventions from Dr. Ambika Bumb". NIH Office of Technology Transfer. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  4. America (YJA), Young Jains of (September 14, 2018). "Meet Ambika Bumb, CEO of Bikanta". Young Jains of America (YJA). Retrieved January 25, 2019.
  5. "Ambika Bumb". Young Jain Professionals. November 25, 2014. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  6. Rich, Walter (May 13, 2016). "Ambika Bumb and Xavier Lefebvre Honored at the College of Engineering Alumni Awards Induction Ceremony". The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University School of Medicine. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  7. "Ambika Bumb - Bikanta - YC Female Founder Stories". YC Female Founder Stories. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  8. McCook, Alison (April 20, 2011). "Education: Rethinking PhDs". Nature News. 472 (7343): 280–282. Bibcode:2011Natur.472..280M. doi:10.1038/472280a. PMID 21512549.
  9. Commemoration., Commission, Marshall Aid (2013). Fifty ninth annual report of the marshall aid commemoration commission for. Tso. p. 25. ISBN 978-0108512209. OCLC 925437833.
  10. Vara, Vauhini (August 20, 2014). "Fever Pitch". The New Yorker. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  11. Buhr, Sarah (August 7, 2014). "Bikanta's Tiny Diamonds Find Cancer Before It Spreads". TechCrunch. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  12. Bumb, Ambika. "A Nano Step For Man, A Giant Leap For Mankind". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  13. Bikanta (April 17, 2017), Ambika Bumb CareerGirls Interview, retrieved December 12, 2017
  14. Leeming, Jack (June 14, 2016). "What's your average day like?". Nature. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  15. Leeming, Jack (August 2, 2016). "How to start a startup: Naturejobs Blog". Nature. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  16. Wefunder (November 18, 2015), Bikanta: Using Nano-Diamonds to Detect Cancer, retrieved December 12, 2017
  17. Villaraza, Aaron Joseph; Bumb, Ambika; Brechbiel, Martin W. (May 12, 2010). "Macromolecules, Dendrimers, and Nanomaterials in Magnetic Resonance Imaging: The Interplay between Size, Function, and Pharmacokinetics". Chemical Reviews. 110 (5): 2921–2959. doi:10.1021/cr900232t. ISSN 0009-2665. PMC 2868950. PMID 20067234.
  18. Bumb, A.; Brechbiel, M. W.; Choyke, P. L.; Fugger, L.; Eggeman, A.; Prabhakaran, D.; Hutchinson, J.; Dobson, P. J. (2008). "Synthesis and characterization of ultra-small superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles thinly coated with silica". Nanotechnology. 19 (33): 335601. Bibcode:2008Nanot..19G5601B. doi:10.1088/0957-4484/19/33/335601. ISSN 0957-4484. PMC 2600798. PMID 19701448.
  19. Boswell, C. Andrew; Regino, Celeste A. S.; Baidoo, Kwamena E.; Wong, Karen J.; Bumb, Ambika; Xu, Heng; Milenic, Diane E.; Kelley, James A.; Lai, Christopher C. (July 1, 2008). "Synthesis of a Cross-Bridged Cyclam Derivative for Peptide Conjugation and 64Cu Radiolabeling". Bioconjugate Chemistry. 19 (7): 1476–1484. doi:10.1021/bc800039e. ISSN 1043-1802. PMC 2505184. PMID 18597510.
  20. Bumb, Ambika; Brechbiel, Martin W.; Choyke, Peter (September 1, 2010). "Macromolecular and dendrimer-based magnetic resonance contrast agents". Acta Radiologica. 51 (7): 751–767. doi:10.3109/02841851.2010.491091. ISSN 0284-1851. PMC 2922462. PMID 20590365.
  21. Sarkar, Susanta K.; Bumb, Ambika; Wu, Xufeng; Sochacki, Kem A.; Kellman, Peter; Brechbiel, Martin W.; Neuman, Keir C. (April 1, 2014). "Wide-field in vivo background free imaging by selective magnetic modulation of nanodiamond fluorescence". Biomedical Optics Express. 5 (4): 1190–1202. doi:10.1364/BOE.5.001190. ISSN 2156-7085. PMC 3985990. PMID 24761300.
  22. Bumb, Ambika; Sarkar, Susanta K.; Billington, Neil; Brechbiel, Martin W.; Neuman, Keir C. (May 29, 2013). "Silica Encapsulation of Fluorescent Nanodiamonds for Colloidal Stability and Facile Surface Functionalization". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 135 (21): 7815–7818. doi:10.1021/ja4016815. ISSN 0002-7863. PMC 3689586. PMID 23581827.
  23. Bumb, Ambika; Regino, Celeste A. S.; Egen, Jackson G.; Bernardo, Marcelino; Dobson, Peter J.; Germain, Ronald N.; Choyke, Peter L.; Brechbiel, Martin W. (December 1, 2011). "Trafficking of a Dual-Modality Magnetic Resonance and Fluorescence Imaging Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide-Based Nanoprobe to Lymph Nodes". Molecular Imaging and Biology. 13 (6): 1163–1172. doi:10.1007/s11307-010-0424-8. ISSN 1536-1632. PMC 3116972. PMID 21080233.
  24. "Silica-Coated Nanodiamonds for Imaging and the Delivery of Therapeutic Agents | Office of Technology Transfer, NIH". www.ott.nih.gov. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  25. "Fluorescent Nanodiamonds as Fiducial Markers for Microscopy | Office of Technology Transfer, NIH". www.ott.nih.gov. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  26. "Background-Free Fluorescent Nanodiamond Imaging | Office of Technology Transfer, NIH". www.ott.nih.gov. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
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