Master’s Thesis Project at Aston University (Molecular Pharmacology & Neuroscience)

During my MSc thesis at the Aston University, I worked on studying the mechanisms for the physiological actions of the CGRP protein. The CGRP protein is known to modulate various physiological functions and plays a major role in migraine and cardiovascular disorders. The CGRP protein exerts its actions through CGRP-Receptor (also known as CALCRL) and RAMP1 protein. My project was specifically on investigating the role of RAMP1 in receptor-protein binding and interactions between CGRP-receptor and Adrenomedullin. I was not working to find something new, but to re-confirm the hypothesis (reproducing previous findings are also considered as important as finding new results). The implications of receptor studies are always to lead to findings for new drug molecules. Without proper knowledge about how a receptor binds other molecules (or proteins), it is not possible to synthesize chemical compounds to target a specific receptor. I would term this study as basic science and the findings had the potential to lead to discovery of new medicines (or better medicines) to treat migraine (and many other disorders).

Graduate Research Assistant at University of Oxford (Cardiovascular Medicine, Molecular Cell Biology and Drug Discovery)

After finishing my Masters, I joined the Cardiovascular Division (Radcliffe Department of Medicine) at the Welcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford. I worked on the protein called Creatine Transporter (CrT); and to be specific, myocardial CrT. For general audience – CrT is the protein through which creatine (supplies energy to cells in the human body) enters the cells. In case of low levels of creatine (Phospho-Creatine in correct scientific term) the heart cells starve of energy and that leads to myocardial infarction (heart failure or heart attack). My primary objective was to optimize a screening protocol and find chemical compounds (in collaboration with the Chemistry Department) to regulate the levels of myocardial creatine (in vitro), and any significant increase in the levels of myocardial creatine has got the potential to be beneficial in case of heart failure. This time I had a specific objective (targeted goal) while working on basic science in the lab; hence this was clearly a case of Pre-Clinical Research. During the project I did find few compounds that increase the cellular uptake of creatine and also identified few proteins that regulate the action of CrT. One of most important findings was the role of TXNIP for regulating CrT, and we also published a paper on that – A role for thioredoxin-interacting protein (Txnip) in cellular creatine homeostasis. In addition to that, the screening method that we optimized in order to identify new drugs also got patented.

Early Stage Researcher at Utrecht University (Cardiovascular Biology, Molecular Biology and Biomarker Discovery & Validation)

After a successful stint at Oxford, I moved to the Netherlands in search of new challenge and excitement. I was based at the University Medical Center Utrecht, and my project was discovery and novel biomarkers for prediction of cardiovascular events (heart attack, stroke, death etc.). I had the opportunity to work with human tissues (atherosclerotic plaque samples) and human samples (blood, plasma, and serum). I used to measure protein levels in healthy volunteers and patients and was trying to figure out the proteins that were elevated (or decreased) in patients in comparison to healthy people. After identifying the differential proteins, we were also used to study the basic biology and mechanisms of their actions, particularly of Osteopontin. This was something pre-clinical study and taking the findings from clinical studies back to lab bench.

Postgraduate Researcher at University of New South Wales (Cancer Biology & Tumour Immunology)

The fascination for proteins and translational medicine took me to Down Under, where I took up another research position at the St. Vincent’s Centre for Applied Medical Research, affiliated to the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney. At UNSW, I was working on GDF-15 (also known as MIC-1), which is a biomarker for various types of cancer. It was also pre-clinical research with tremendous potential for translational medicine. For the first time, I gained hands-on experience on animal models (in vivo studies) and cancer immunology.