We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dhwani Mehta. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dhwani below.

Dhwani, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

Some of the most powerful lessons in resilience and determination don’t come from textbooks or classrooms—they come from the quiet, everyday examples set by the people we love most. For me, it was my parents.

Though both of them come from commerce backgrounds, they have been the unwavering foundation of my scientific journey. My mother Mrs. Varisha Mehta, a devoted tutor, modeled the patience and clarity needed to teach—and inspired in me a love for learning and explaining complex ideas. My father Mr. Ashish Mehta, a banker, showed me the power of calm consistency and quiet strength—qualities that would become my anchor during the toughest phases of graduate school.

What they did right wasn’t just encouraging me to pursue higher education—it was how they consistently stood by me, even from across continents.

One defining chapter was in 2020, when I was completing my Master’s thesis in New York at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. With no family around, the city locked down, and fear and uncertainty everywhere, I fell into a spiral of demotivation and depression. My Master’s defense was approaching in July, and I felt emotionally paralyzed. I remember breaking down during a late-night call, saying I couldn’t do it.

But my parents, thousands of miles away in India, never let go. They spoke to me every single day, reminding me of who I was and why I came here in the first place. “You don’t need the perfect conditions to do great things,” my dad said. “You just need your reason.” That voice in my head pulled me through. I successfully defended my Master’s thesis alone, in a tiny apartment, during one of the darkest times the world has seen. And I came out stronger.

That lesson was tested again in December 2020, when I contracted COVID during the second wave. With no access to family support and the embassies closed—meaning my parents couldn’t visit—I had to take care of myself while battling the illness in isolation. But strangely, I didn’t feel alone. The strength, discipline, and self-motivation they’d instilled in me showed up when I needed it most.

Those two moments—surviving COVID alone and defending my thesis in the middle of a global crisis—weren’t just personal milestones. They defined the way I would carry myself into my PhD: resilient, focused, and deeply grateful.

In many ways, my parents shaped my career not through technical guidance, but by giving me the emotional tools to navigate the uncertainty, pressure, and solitude that research often demands.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Dhwani Mehta, a drug discovery researcher with a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, concentrating on Medicinal Chemistry, based in New York. My journey into this field was far from conventional—rooted not in a family of scientists, but in a home where learning and resilience were deeply valued. My mother, a tutor, taught me the beauty of breaking down complex topics into understandable ideas. My father, a calm and consistent banker, instilled in me the discipline and patience I now bring to my research.

I specialize in carbohydrate chemistry, with a strong focus on the design and synthesis of glycomimetics and conformationally optimized antigens for use as vaccine adjuvants and potential vaccine candidates—a niche yet rapidly expanding area with significant implications in vaccine development, rare disease treatment, and cancer immunotherapy.

My research has been shaped and mentored under the guidance of Dr. Carlos A. Sanhueza Chavez, whose scientific vision and mentorship have been instrumental throughout my Ph.D. and Master’s journey. Under his supervision at St. John’s University, I integrated multidisciplinary expertise in synthetic organic chemistry, chromatographic purification (normal/reverse-phase, ion exchange, size exclusion, HPLC, UPLC, Semi-Prep HPLC, Flash Chromatography), and advanced spectroscopic techniques such as 1D/2D NMR (¹H, ¹³C, NOESY, TOCSY, COSY, HSQC, HMBC, HSQC-TOCSY), Mass Spectroscopy (HRMS, LCMS, GCMS) and infrared spectroscopy (I.R.).

I’ve developed various novel glycosidic analogs, including the first fluorinated αGal-based glycomimetic, and a series of conformationally modulated antigens, evaluating their structural and conformational behavior through both experimental and computational approaches. To assess molecular interactions and binding kinetics, I routinely employ biophysical tools like Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) and Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC), generating quantitative insights into antigen-antibody interactions, glycoside-lectin binding, and drug-carrier complexation. These techniques have been pivotal in projects ranging from inhalable COVID-19 vaccine development and immunoliposome-based lung cancer therapies to cyclodextrin-enhanced delivery systems and neoantigen design.

What sets my work apart is not just technical depth, but conformational insight—I study how subtle atomic-level changes in glycosidic structures can impact their biological interactions, contributing to smarter vaccine adjuvant designs and targeted therapeutic strategies.

My scientific journey is also deeply personal. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I not only defended my Master’s thesis while navigating isolation and emotional strain but also recovered from COVID-19 alone—relying on inner resilience and the emotional strength instilled in me by my parents. That period taught me the kind of focus and mental clarity that now drives both my research and mentorship.

Today, I’m not just a scientist—I’m a problem-solver and educator. As an Academic/Teaching Fellow and Adjunct Faculty at St. John’s University, I’ve mentored dozens of students in organic and medicinal chemistry, helping them not only master content but build scientific curiosity and confidence. What I’m most proud of is using science to shape real-world treatments—whether it’s advancing glycan-based diagnostics, creating better immunotherapies, or building novel delivery systems for hard-to-treat diseases. My mission is to bring structure to complexity, clarity to chemistry, and meaning to molecular research.

If you’re passionate about glycoscience, biophysical analysis, or collaborative translational research, I’d love to connect. Let’s explore how sugar chemistry can help solve today’s most urgent biomedical challenges.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

While technical training and scientific knowledge form the essential foundation of a research career, what has truly contributed to my success in medicinal chemistry—particularly within the specialized field of glycoscience—are the qualities of resilience, adaptability, and emotional endurance.

This discipline demands more than laboratory expertise; it requires the ability to remain motivated through prolonged setbacks, to troubleshoot creatively when outcomes defy expectations, and to stay focused even when working in isolation. These qualities are not developed in the classroom—they’re shaped through lived experience.

As mentioned earlier, one of the most transformative periods in my journey was during the COVID-19 pandemic. Living alone in New York, I had to navigate not only academic pressure but the emotional toll of isolation and uncertainty. Defending my Master’s thesis and later recovering from COVID entirely on my own tested my limits. But it also taught me that resilience isn’t about waiting for ideal conditions—it’s about learning to adapt, self-motivate, and keep going despite them. I learned to value inner discipline, emotional clarity, and balance—skills that continue to serve me every day in research and life.

Later in my research journey, I encountered long periods of failure and unpredictability in the lab—experiences that became equally pivotal in shaping my mindset. I learned that failure is not the opposite of success, but part of the process. What these setbacks taught me was to value incremental progress and remain patient even when outcomes are elusive. I came to see each failed attempt as a step forward, revealing insights that brought me closer to the solution.

During these times, I was fortunate to have the unwavering support of my mentor, Dr. Carlos A. Sanhueza Chavez, who guided me through every stage of difficulty. His constant encouragement, insightful feedback, and ability to reframe challenges as learning opportunities played a pivotal role in helping me move forward when I doubted myself. His mentorship didn’t just shape my technical skills—it helped me rediscover my motivation and purpose at moments when I felt stuck.

These lessons also helped me understand that sometimes, early success can be misleading. In one project, an experiment worked perfectly the first time, only to repeatedly fail during scale-up. It took months of observation and systematic troubleshooting to identify a minor yet critical variable. That experience taught me humility and precision—the ability to recognize that even the smallest factors can significantly impact results. And it reinforced the idea that long-term success is often built on the back of repeated, reflective effort.

In drug development and glycoscience, setbacks are inevitable. What defines a scientist’s growth is not only their expertise but their ability to adapt, reflect, and push forward with persistence and perspective. It is this mindset—nurtured by my personal experiences, combined with the values instilled in me by my parents and strengthened by the mentorship of Dr. Chavez—that has allowed me to thrive in a field that demands both precision and resilience.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the most important lessons I had to unlearn is the belief that success must come quickly, smoothly, or under perfect conditions—and that it is the only reliable path to a better future. The truth I’ve come to embrace is that failure often teaches you more, shapes you deeper, and ultimately paves a more meaningful path to success.

That realization began to take shape during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when I was preparing to defend my Master’s thesis. The world was in chaos, my family was an ocean away, and I was navigating emotional burnout and isolation. I constantly asked myself, “How can I perform well in a time like this?” But with the unwavering emotional support of my parents, the unconditional strength of my brother Mr. Jenil Mehta and friends—who consistently motivated me even from afar—I showed up, adapted, and defended my thesis under the most uncertain conditions. That experience shattered my old belief that success only happens when everything is aligned. It taught me that resilience means pushing forward even when the world feels unsteady and nothing is guaranteed.

Later in my Ph.D. research, this lesson became even clearer through two defining experimental experiences.

In one project, I was developing a method to determine the binding affinity of an antibody to a liposomal formulation of an anti-cancer drug. Every single run failed to deliver usable results. For nearly a year, I trouble-shot every possible variable, modifying conditions and learning from each failed attempt. And slowly, those failures built the foundation for the breakthrough. After a year of persistence, I finally produced reproducible, high-quality binding curves. That moment felt monumental—not because I succeeded, but because I had earned that success through consistency, patience, and technical growth.

In another project, I was synthesizing a fluorinated αGal antigen as a potential vaccine adjuvant. The fluorination worked perfectly the first time—I felt like I had struck gold. But when I tried to scale it up, the reaction kept failing without explanation. For months, I tested different conditions, solvents, temperatures—nothing worked. It took me four months of systematic troubleshooting to discover that the culprit was something as seemingly trivial as the solvent used to clean the reaction flask. That tiny detail had derailed months of effort. And yet, it taught me one of the most valuable lessons in research: sometimes, it’s the smallest things that make the biggest difference. Success in science is rarely about luck—it’s about observation, persistence, and the humility to keep learning.

So, the lesson I had to unlearn was that success is linear or immediate. It’s not. Failure isn’t the opposite of success—it’s part of it. And the sooner you learn to embrace that, the more resilient, creative, and grounded you become—not just as a scientist, but as a person.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dhwaniam/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhwani-mehta18
• Other: My Research lab at St. John’s University link (Mentor- Dr. Carlos A. Sanhueza Chavez)- https://www.glycolab.net/