Dr. Chaya Venkat has graduate degrees in the sciences (chemistry), engineering (chemical engineering) and in education (teaching of science). Her professional career has included teaching, research and intellectual property licensing. She has no formal training in hematology or oncology — those subjects have been the focus of “on-the-job training” while writing for CLL Topics.

Education:

  • M. Sc. (Chemistry) Indian Institute of Technology, Madras;
  • D. Ed. (Chemistry & Education), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI;
  • M. S. (Chemical Engineering), Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.

Professional Experience:
Teaching:

  • University of Michigan, MI
  • Mara Institute of Technology, Malaysia
  • Princeton University, NJ

Research: Mobil Oil Corporation, Central Research Labs, Princeton, NJ.
Intellectual Property: Mobil Oil Corporation, Technology Licensing, Princeton, NJ.
Science Writing: CLL Topics Inc., Sedona, AZ, since 2003.

Publications:

Petroleum Industry: Chaya was an invited speaker at many international petrochemical conferences and was an author on a number of petroleum industry publications that were restricted to limited circulation for competitive business reasons.

Hematology: Chaya’s work at CLL Topics led to collaboration with investigators at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, in a research study based on an online survey of CLL patients. She is an author on the following papers:

British Journal of Haematology Logo Br J Haematol. 2007 Oct;139(2):255-64
Quality of life in chronic lymphocytic leukemia: an international survey of 1482 patients.
Shanafelt TD, Bowen D, Venkat C, Slager SL, Zent CS, Kay NE, Reinalda M, Sloan JA, Call TG.
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN; CLL Topics, Inc., Sedona, AZ.

Leuk Res. 2008 Jul 23.
The physician-patient relationship and quality of life: Lessons from chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Shanafelt TD, Bowen DA, Venkat C, Slager SL, Zent CS, Kay NE, Reinalda M, Tun H, Sloan JA, Call TG.
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, United States.

Patents:

While at Mobil, Chaya was the inventor and awarded 24 patents (US as well as world wide). You can get a better sense of Chaya’s research background by going to the U.S. Patent Office website, and running a query with her name “Chaya” and “Venkat” as Terms 1 & 2 (Inventor Name). Several patent applications are still being processed. All of the patents are in the areas of refinery operations, petrochemical manufacture, and zeolite catalysis.

Awards:

Science and research have been a lifelong passion for Chaya, dating back to when she was awarded the National Science Talent Scholarship in India in her early teens. More recently, Chaya was a recipient of the Thomas Alva Edison award (2003) for industrial engineering, as well as ExxonMobil Outstanding Patent Award in 2008.