Profile
Name Dr. Balaji Somasundaram
Designation Visiting Professor
Areas of Interest Bioprocess development, Biopharmaceutical technology, Downstream processing, Strategic Business Leadership
Room No.
Intercom No.
Mobile
Email Id (Official)
Email Id (Personal)
Qualification
  • Ph.D. (Chemical Process and Engineering), University of Canterbury, 2013.
  • B. Tech (Biotechnology), Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Anna University, 2009.
Academic Experience
    Industry

  • Associate Director, Denteric Pty Ltd, Australia, July 2023 – Present
  • Senior CMC Project manager, Denteric Pty Ltd, Australia, July 2022 – July 2023.
  • Head of Strategy and Operations, Protein Expression Facility, The University of Queensland, Feb 2019 – July 2022.
  • Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, ARC Training Center for Biopharmaceutical Innovation (Industry Partnership), July 2017- Feb 2019.
  • Research Scientist, Pfizer Biologics Development Center, Aug 2015- Jun 2017.
  • Protein Production Specialist, The University of Queensland, Mar 2013 – Jul 2025.
Courses Handled
Research & Consultancy
    Publications:

  • S Nadar, G Shooter, B Somasundaram, E Shave, K Baker, LHL Lua. Intensified downstream processing of monoclonal antibodies using membrane technology. 2021 Biotechnology Journal 16 (3) 2000309.
  • K Pleitt, E Shave, B Johnson, B Somasundaram and LHL Lua. Evaluation of process modelling as a decisional tool for biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organizations regarding implementation of continuous downstream processing. 2019 Biochemical Engineering Journal 150: 107252-107261.
  • B Somasundaram, K Pleitt, E Shave, K Baker, LHL Lua. Progression of continuous downstream processing of monoclonal antibodies: Current trends and challenges. 2018 Biotechnology and Bioengineering 115 (12):2893-2907.
  • B Somasundaram, C Chang, YY Fan, PY Lim, J Cardosa, LHL Lua. Characterizing enterovirus 71 and coxsackievirus A16 virus-like particles production in insect cells. 2016 Methods 95, 38-45.
  • B Somasundaram, LHL Lua. Development of picornavirus-like particle vaccines. 2015 Pharmaceutical Bioprocessing 3 (1), 45-59.
  • B Somasundaram, CJ Fee, R Fredericks, AJA Watson, AJ Fairbanks. A surface plasmon resonance assay for measurement of neuraminidase inhibition, sensitivity of wild-type influenza neuraminidase and its H274Y mutant to the antiviral drugs. 2015 Journal of Molecular Recognition 28 (9), 521-527.
  • B Somasundaram, CJ Fee, R Fredericks, AJA Watson, AJ Fairbanks and R Hall. Development of a surface plasmon resonance assay to measure the binding affinity of wild-type influenza neuraminidase and its H274Y mutant to the antiviral drug zanamivir. 2015 Journal of Molecular Recognition 28 (2), 87-95.
  • S Detchanamurthy, K Shanmugam, SMA Parkunan, S Puttananjaiah, K Subramanian and B Somasundaram. Cloning and expression of S-Adenosyl Methionine Synthetase gene in recombinant E. coli strain for large scale production of SAMe. 2010 Electronic Journal of Biotechnology 13 (4), 1-2
Conference / Workshop / FDP
    Achievements

  • Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation’s) Award for Excellence in Leadership 2021.
  • UQ Awards for Excellence in Service 2021 (Team award – nominated).
  • Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation’s) Award for Team Excellence in Impact 2020.
  • Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation’s) Award for Excellence in Leadership 2019.
  • The University of Canterbury, “Thesis in 3” winner (3rd place, NZ $2000) .
  • The University of Canterbury Vice-Chancellor’s appreciation letter (2012).
  • People’s Choice award at Postgraduate Conference at the University of Canterbury.
Laboratory Handled
Training Attended
Additional Responsibilities
Achievements
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