Audrika Chattaraj (she/her) is a Human Health major and French minor on the Pre-med track. SURE Research Ambassador Sanjana Kunnikuru had the pleasure of interviewing Chattaraj about her research experiences.
What are you up to this summer?
I'm doing biomedical research this summer. My project aims to understand the role of the gut microbiome on sleep in Idiopathic Hypersomnia (IH) using a fruit fly model and to view the changes in symptoms of IH patients over time. Idiopathic Hypersomnia is a sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness despite long sleep duration, but there are no known diagnostic criteria, and symptoms are not well understood. To better understand the role of the guy microbiome in IH, I am exposing germ-free flies to gut microbiome samples of patients with IH before and after they are given an antibiotic treatment and recorded sleep patterns using a Drosophila Activity Monitor to be analyzed for 33 sleep characteristics. Furthermore, to examine changes in symptoms of IH, I am analyzing data from the Hypersomnia Foundation's online registry.
How long have you been involved in research, and how did you first get involved?
My interest in research first started in high school. When I was a sophomore, my school first offered the AP Research capstone course (SHOUTOUT RIDGE HIGH SCHOOL). I took the seminar and research course that went along with the program, and I had so much fun learning about ways to build knowledge! I designed a project analyzing a social-emotional well-being program at my school. When I got to college, I got to dive into natural science research. In the spring of my freshman year, I began working with fruit flies with Dr. McLean at Oxford. Now, I’m doing fruit fly research with Dr. Freeman in Whitehead!
What motivated you to select your current research topic?
My current research topic is examining the role of the gut microbiome on sleep for patients with Idiopathic Hypersomnia (people who constantly feel sleepy no matter how much sleep they get). I’m also viewing changes in symptoms over time. I am generally interested in sleep research because it applies to everyone— we all sleep, yet there’s so much we do not understand about it! In particular, Idiopathic Hypersomnia has no defined diagnostic criteria or treatment plans. I want to shed light on this disease and help people sleep better.
What are the benefits of being involved in research, and what ways have you grown?
I really, really like to learn. Research allows me to take learning into my own hands. Furthermore, there is no right answer in research— everyone is on a level playing field, just trying to figure out what is going on in the world. I’ve really grown into adopting a beginner mindset with every project that I do. Research has shown me that it is okay to not know things yet.
What are your current and future goals involving your research?
As someone who is generally interested in medicine and science, I want to learn as much as I can. Honestly, I’m really not sure what it is that I want to do after college. Do I want to work in a clinic? Do I want to work in a lab? Do I want to work with people or something else? The SURE program is giving me a taste of what being a lab scientist is like, and I hope by the end of the program, I can begin to decide if this life is for me.
Comments
Post a Comment