Nirmal Palanisamy

I’m a molecular biologist with 1+ year of experience in NGS library preparation, Oxford Nanopore sequencing, and clinical nucleic acid workflows. I’m comfortable working across the full bench cycle—from raw sample to sequencing output—across blood, tissue, CSF, BAL, and other complex matrices.

As a Research Associate — Molecular Biology & NGS at Haystack Labs, I’ve handled end-to-end NGS library preparation for DNA and RNA samples and managed Thermo Fisher automated and manual extraction workflows. I ran Oxford Nanopore MinION and Flongle flow cells, independently troubleshooting pore occupancy, flow cell loading failures, and run interruptions.

I’ve also designed and optimised PCR and qPCR assays, resolving primer-dimer issues, low-yield failures, and non-specific amplification through systematic titration and condition testing. For quality, I performed a full QC pipeline—Qubit, Bioanalyzer, TapeStation, and gel electrophoresis—and reviewed sequencing output metrics (N50, coverage depth, read length) via MinKNOW.

My forensic DNA profiling background strengthens my precision and documentation discipline. As an intern at the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL), I extracted and quantified DNA from blood, bone, teeth, and saliva, supported STR genotyping and capillary electrophoresis, and contributed to ISO/IEC 17025 case report writing and evidence documentation. I’m currently building bioinformatics skills in Python, R, FastQC, and Guppy, and I’m looking to apply my wet-lab depth to antibody research and high-throughput genomics.