Q&A with Althea shortlisted candidate Vidhi Mehta of Post/Biotics

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Vidhi Mehta

Althea shortlisted candidate Vidhi Mehta talks about coming up with new ideas and the need for business and research to work together.

Can you tell me a little about how you came up with the idea and what convinced you that there was real business potential there?

The problem of drug resistance has been a hot topic of discussion in global news since the past 3 years. Often problems of such massive scale in design world are called as wicked problems that benefit from social design intervention. I was thinking to myself surely being dependent solely on research institutes and pharmaceutical companies to find new antibiotics was not a good model, especially when their motivations for working in this domain itself are financially not profitable. Also the fact that very few people actually understand how, why and when they should take antibiotics made me think there has to be a better way to educate people. I happened to have a chanced email conversation with Josiah Zayner a biophysicist working in this domain and came up with the idea of crowd sourced antimicrobial research. As a kid, I used to collect coins, people have different hobbies, how can we use this inherent curiosity of people to facilitate real need of the world, sample the world for new antimicrobials.

What are your thoughts on entrepreneurship in science – is it a good thing for scientists to be hooked into the business world?

I am studying Innovation Design Engineering course at Imperial, my reason to move away from India and pursue this course at Imperial was driven by the understanding that when creative, scientific and entrepreneurial disciplines intersect they disrupt the market. When scientist are hooked to real world they understand the relevance of their work to larger public. Post/Biotics questions what happens when everyone can think,create and add to scientific knowledge, I think scientists play an important role in facilitating these platforms.

How did it feel to be shortlisted and how have you found the whole process?

It has been quite an exciting journey, to know that your has made it to selected few and people would like to know how your work progresses is quite a privilege. The support and effort that Imperial and Althea program has put into is directly visible in the project.

It is extremely encouraging when your education puts you on a pedestal for once you are out in the industry. The Althea program has been influential for my personal development, the cohort has given me a network of extremely driven peer group that have proven to be good leads to help take both Post/Biotics and me into commercial scenario. 

What does the future hold?

Now this is a difficult one, future feels like full of challenges, issues screaming for attention each one holding new opportunities for growth development and quality of life. Perhaps thats what makes me an entrepreneur!

Near term future holds being part of innovation in health care domain, redefining experiences for people and creating an alternative paradigm of innovation.

Reporter

Andrew Czyzewski

Andrew Czyzewski
Communications Division

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Contact details

Email: press.office@imperial.ac.uk
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