Ruchira Dasgupta works in early drug discovery research at a biopharmaceutical company in the US. The company is involved in finding therapeutic solutions for a range of diseases from oncology, autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases.
Dasgupta works in biologics—protein drugs with more specificity than standard chemotherapy drugs.
Why She Left
Dasgupta left India for the US in 1985 to pursue an undergraduate degree that allowed her to major in biochemistry and minor in English literature.
She had taken the Joint Entrance Examination and had secured a medical-college seat. “But pursuing a medical degree was not where my heart was at,” Dasgupta says.
“I wanted to pursue research in molecular biology and biochemistry, budding fields in the US, that were not available at the undergraduate level at least in Calcutta,” she adds. It was an article in Time magazine that spurred her interest in genetic engineering. She was more attracted to that course of study than practicing medicine or pursuing an academic career in West Bengal.
30 June 2025
Get the latest issue of Outlook Business
Would She Come Back?
Dasgupta says that in terms of work there are opportunities in India now that work with major pharmaceutical companies in the US and Europe. “But that feels secondary to being involved in the cutting-edge research that I get to be involved in my current role,” she adds.
About living in India, she says, “While I may be able to afford a higher standard of living or more creature comforts, for example having a driver and household staff, that does not compensate for the loss of community I have built here.”
She adds, “I am also married to a native Bostonian, a child who has never been to India so the answer to the last question you had is that I really don’t see uprooting my life. At this point, I have very few family members left in India, and I haven’t felt a sense of connection to life in India as the older generation passed.”
Just one email a week