Summer Undergraduate Research Program - Fred Hutchinson ...

Extra Personal Statement #10
Raised by two expatriate professionals in Dubai, UAE, I was completely
unprepared for the shock I experienced when I began college in my native India. I was
struck by the poor health conditions and widespread illiteracy. These appalling settings
stirred me to actively volunteer at an AIDS awareness and educative campaign. I found
this experience to be very rewarding on many levels. In particular, it initiated a deeper
understanding regarding the importance of biological research. Also, during this time, I
was part of an honor’s program at XX College in Bombay that focused on scientific
experimentation and analysis. These two defining factors complemented my growing
interest in research and influenced my decision to become a biological research scientist.
Due to India’s limited resources and opportunities to carry out biological research and
training, I decided to come to the United States to pursue my studies.
My interest in research was further enhanced when I transferred to the University
of Notre Dame. Being a young transfer student alone in the United States was a
challenging experience in itself, but adapting to a completely new system of education
was even more difficult. As an undergraduate biochemistry and genetics major, I worked
in different labs to gain research experience and technical expertise. I was unfamiliar with
the sophisticated equipment and techniques used in the labs and had to work hard to keep
up with my peers. This initial struggle however prepared me for graduate school and gave
me a stronger foundation for working toward my master’s degree.
I pursued my master’s degree in Dr. Cormick MacArthur’s lab at the University
of Notre Dame. His group investigates the involvement of mitochondria in the aging
process. Abnormalities in mitochondrial electron transport system (ETS) enzymatic
activities have been associated with aging skeletal muscle. I designed riboprobes and
performed in situ hybridizations on tissue sections to examine the impact of
mitochondrial ETS abnormalities on the RNA expression of selected genes. I also
measured the levels of a marker of oxidative stress, 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG),
with age in skeletal muscle fibers and demonstrated the presence of increased
steady-state levels of oxidative nucleic acid damage in ETS abnormal fibers. Finally, I
attempted to elucidate the fate of ETS abnormal fibers in different aged rats using
markers of apoptosis. My results were published in XX.
After graduation, I moved to Seattle to gain some professional experience at XX
Corporation, a gene therapy company that works on both viral and non-viral gene
delivery systems. I was involved in the latter and focused on using lipid-protamine-DNA
(LPD) complexes for systemic gene transfer. My job enabled me to synthesize LPD
formulations, design, implement and interpret in vitro transfection experiments, process
and analyze in vivo tissue samples, design and make gene constructs, assist in assay
development and use tissue culture to maintain cell lines for future experiments. This
product-oriented environment gave me the confidence and discipline to meet deadlines
under intense pressure and also instilled in me the importance of teamwork. It also
exposed me to the corporate side of science. In fact, my return to academia was
motivated by my experience of the insecurity resulting from corporate takeovers and
merges, the constant focus on financial profits, inflexibility, product-specific goals and a
lack of emphasis on publications.
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