CV

1. 8892 West Bruneau Pl Phone: +1 573 202 0534
Kennewick WA 99336 Email: malavika81@gmail.com
Malavika Sinha
SUMMARY: My Ph.D. was the first successful study involving the expression of hydrocarbon producing
bacterial gene into fungus. Building on the state of the art microbiology, molecular biology and extensive
data analysis, it signaled an important step towards realizing the dream of producing jet fuel, fueled by
fungus. Dynamic, passionate and an avid team player with strong communication skills, I am looking for
post-doctorate research positions to contribute to the successful research endeavors being currently
addressed.
RELEVANT EDUCATION
PhD in Fungal molecular biology, Washington State University (2011-2015)
Masters of Science in Applied and Environmental Biology, Missouri S&T (2006-2008)
TECHNICAL SKILLS
Molecular Biology
 Gene insertion, gene deletion, protoplast preparation, fungal molecular work, DNA extraction,
RNA extraction, Primer design, Quantitative PCR, RTPCR, Gel electrophoresis, Gene cloning,
maintain clone library, Preparation of clones for Gene sequencing, cDNA library preparation,
Emulsion PCR, Next generation SolidTM
sequencer operation, Extraction and preparation of
protein samples for mass spectrophotometer analysis, BCA assay, Coomassie assay, protein
expression analysis
Microbiology
 Soil microbiology, microbial isolation, identification and characterization assays
 Community analysis of biofilms
 Preparation and modification of growth media, maintaining cell culture
 Anaerobic microbiology
 Cell culture in micro-bioreactor and bioreactors
Bioinformatics
 MEGA 4, BLAST Search, PAUP, Maximum likelihood tree, Distance tree and Parsimony tree, R
package, MS office, Origin, Vector NTI
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Washington State University (Ph.D.)
Project: Genetic engineering of Aspergillus carbonarius to increase hydrocarbon production that can be
used as advanced biofuel
Summary: In this project, Aspergillus carbonarius, filamentous fungi was used as a model organism for
future advanced biofuel production. This work was profiled in AAAS Science News. Tasks accomplished
in this project are:
 Successful gene insertion that induced long chain alkane production in filamentous fungi
 Successful gene deletion that increased fatty acid methyl esters (FAMES), a direct biodiesel
component in the fungus.
 Investigation of hydrocarbon production by A. carbonarius

2. 8892 West Bruneau Pl Phone: +1 573 202 0534
Kennewick WA 99336 Email: malavika81@gmail.com
 Fermentation optimization for hydrocarbon production
 Qualitative and quantitative analysis of hydrocarbon production in GC/MS
Pacific Northwest National laboratory (2009-2011). Post masters Research Associate
Manager: Mike Fayer, Hydrology
Project: Involved in soil microbiology of uranium contaminated site. The tasks included:
 Isolation of microorganisms from uranium contaminated site
 Microbial characterization of soil and water samples
 Extraction of Nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) from sediment and filter samples
 Analysis of Nucleic acid in Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer
 PCR, and cloning of the extracted environmental DNA, maintain clone library
 Primer design, Plasmid miniprep, Reverse transcription, qPCR
 Protein extraction and digestion. BCA and Coomassie assay
Missouri S& T, Missouri, USA (M.Sc.)
Project: Isolation of extremophiles.
Summary: In this project my tasks included:
 Isolation of microorganisms from sediments of extremely acidic as well as extremely saline
environment of Australian lakes
 Molecular analysis of these extremophiles
 Characterization of previously isolated cultures from the same environment
PUBLICATIONS (Journals, Conferences and Meetings):
1. Malavika Sinha, Annette Sørensen, Kenneth S. Bruno, and B K. Ahring(2016)- Increasing
intracellular fatty acid levels of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus carbonarius ITEM5010 by
regulating fatty acid catabolism (submitted to Microbial biotechnology)
2. Malavika Sinha, Annette Sørensen,Istvan Weyda, Kenneth S. Bruno, and B K. Ahring (2016)-
Alkane biosynthesis by Aspergillus carbonarius ITEM 5010 through heterologous expression of S.
elongatus genes (Submitted to PLoS One)
3. Malavika Sinha, Annette Sørensen, Aftab Ahamed and BK Ahring (2015)-Production of
Hydrocarbons by Aspergillus carbonarius ITEM 5010, Fungal Biology 119.4 (2015): 274-282.
4. Malavika Sinha, Annette Sørensen. Kenneth S. Bruno, Istvan Weyda, Birgitte K. Ahring.
Increasing intracellular fatty acid levels of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus carbonarius
ITEM5010 by regulating fatty acid catabolism (Poster). 28th Fungal Genetics Conference, Pacific
Grove, CA, USA. (2015)
5. Mouser PJ, N'Guessan LA, Qafoku NP, Malavika Sinha et al. (2014) Influence of Carbon and
Microbial Community Priming on the Attenuation of Uranium in a Contaminated Floodplain
Aquifer. Groundwater
6. Lucie N’Guessan, Hee Sun Moon, Aaron D. Peacock, Hui Tan, Malavika Sinha, Philip E. Long and
Peter R. JafféPost-Biostimulation Microbial Community Structure Changes that Control the
Reoxidation of Uranium. 2010; FEMS Microbiol Ecol. (2010) 1–12.
7. PR Jaffe, PE Long, H Moon, L N'Guessan, A Peacock, M Sinha, H Tan, D Traub, KH Williams. Post-
Biostimulation Biogenic U (IV) Stability and Microbial Community Structure that Affects its
Dynamics. American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010.