Wadhwani Research Centre for Bioengineering (WRCB), IIT Bombay organized an interactive session with Dr. Renu Swarup on 18th September 2017. Dr. Renu Swarup is currently an advisor to the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (DBT), and Managing Director at Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a public sector company incorporated by the Government of India. The main objective of the meeting was to explore government funding opportunities for translational research at WRCB. The interaction session was attended by about 25 faculty members, post-docs, etc. of different departments from IIT Bombay. Prof. Wangikar briefed everyone about WRCB and the goals of the center. He mentioned that the center aims to bridge the gap between academia and industry. Dr. Swarup commended this initiative taken by WRCB. The discussion with Dr. Swarup was very informative. Dr. Swarup informed everyone about the different funding schemes of DBT and BIRAC. Dr. Swarup mentioned that the main objective of BIRAC is to nurture and promote innovative research in the field of biotechnology with a particular focus on start-ups as well as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Dr. Swarup further talked about the importance of having incubation centers for accelerating translational research. She mentioned that it is important to identify the right industry partner to overcome challenges faced during the commercialization of a product. Further Dr. Swarup emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary research work. She informed us that DBT and BIRAC encourage this kind of interdisciplinary work among clusters. The session saw active participation from the attendees who found the session extremely fruitful.