Pushkar G. Ghanekar

Hello! I’m Pushkar.

I use data and AI to design better medicines at Eli Lilly’s. I work on tools that augment human creativity and maximize serendipity. I am broadly interested in chemistry and biology, with a passion for understanding how medicines are discovered, developed, and commercialized.

I did my Ph.D. at Purdue University where I researched atomistic-level chemistry underpinning to further our knowledge of chemical transformations particularly related to energy storage and conversion devices like batteries.

Besides research, I am interested in almost everything that keeps me away from doing laundry or dishes. I love to teach and share science with as many people as possible. Outside of work, I enjoy cooking, gaming, diving deep in arcane internet rabbit holes, reading history and philosophy, and going on longer-than-necessary bike rides.

I maintain a data science blog where I document my thoughts, tips, and list of helpful resources related to life science, algorithms, and code.

Curiosity, humility, and empathy are my foundational beliefs.

Two principles drive my work:

i. Intentionality must precede application

ii. How do you anything is how you do everything.

Some core mental models I subscribe to:

Trust in compounding and persistence; you don't need to be always right, just less stupid.
Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it and get to work.
Have strong convictions, loosely held.
Follow curiosity and passion, not trends.
Ideas are not owned, but come with debts to those who came before.
Life is surprisingly short, so solve problems that interest and excite you most. Richard Hamming's Lecture
Happiness is a choice that you make and a skill that you develop.
"The days are long but the decades are short"
Don't be the best, try to be the only.