Dr. Vathyam returned to the OTT in 2007, having been an intern with OTT earlier in her career. Previously, at the USPTO she examined inventions relating to electrochemistry including biosensors, electrophoresis and microfluidics. For several years, she was the Director of Research and Development at a biotech company where she negotiated contracts and licenses, while developing medical diagnostics and therapeutics. She earned her Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University in Biochemistry, where she performed NMR studies on iron containing superoxide dismutase. She received her M.Sc. in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India and B.Sc. in Chemistry from Stella Maris College, Madras, India.