Shruti Sharma is a fellow with the Technology and Society Program at Carnegie India, where she is currently working on exploring the challenges and opportunities in leveraging biotechnology to improve public health capacity in India.
Liaising closely with stakeholders from across the scientific and academic community and representatives from the private sector and the government, Sharma is working on a paper that discusses the challenges each of these communities faced during the pandemic and the role of government and private sector in establishing a robust and sustainable research ecosystem.
Prior to this, Sharma was working on Indian perspectives on biotech security risks. As part of this, she examined India's vulnerability to naturally occurring diseases, infections occurring due to accidental mishaps, and deliberate weaponization of technology to develop biological weapons. She explored India’s strategies to deal with these risks and recommended measures to strengthen the country’s infrastructure to better tackle biological threats. During the project, she organized multiple public and closed-door events to engage with stakeholders from across the government, industry, academia, and scientific community to understand their perspectives on India’s vulnerability to different biological threats.
In addition to her research, her administrative role entails convening Carnegie India’s annual flagship event called the “Global Technology Summit” which brings together world leaders, entrepreneurs, technologists, and academics from around the globe to discuss issues of technology policy, such as tech diplomacy, data privacy and protection, digital finance, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology.
She holds a Master’s degree in biotechnology from Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Noida.
At the workshop by National Academies, Shruti Sharma spoke about India's bioeconomy, the role of biomanufacturing, and the impact of U.S. biosecurity on India's bio industry.
India and the United States should consider launching “Bio-X,” to foster cooperation in biotechnology. This initiative would leverage the synergies between the domestic programs of the two countries, thereby boosting the competitiveness of their biotech industries.
Shruti Sharma contributed a chapter focusing on biotechnology and its crucial role in developing and producing biological weapons. Given the dangerous potential of biological agents, she argued that it is necessary to strengthen the norm that biotechnology will be used only in non-harmful ways.
Last year, cyber attacks exposed the increasing vulnerability of India’s biomedical institutions. This article serves as a primer for how such institutions can ensure the cybersecurity of their organizations.
The Quad countries recently met on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Japan. This commentary evaluates their achievements with respect to global health security since the first in-person Quad Leaders’ Summit in 2021.
If the IFA trilateral remains consistent in its pursuit of shared interests in the Indo-Pacific, it can become one of the most effective collaborations in the region.
This compendium provides forward-looking, constructive approaches to important priority areas for India’s G20 presidency.
Through this collection of short commentaries, Carnegie India scholars aim to highlight key insights and takeaways from the various closed-door discussions hosted at GTS.
Shruti Sharma participated in a conference on cybersecurity with respect to the biotechnology sector in India. It aimed to identify, discuss, and prioritize current strengths and gaps for cybersecurity in the biotechnology sector and work out next steps to address them.
Shruti Sharma participated in a workshop to discuss avenues and the future of biotechnology collaboration within the Quad. This workshop focused on practical collaboration on the economic opportunities and security risks for biotech over the next ten years, and the meaningful ways in which the Quad can play a role.