Meet Rishika Navlani
Major: Biology and Healthcare Studies - Double Major
Graduation Year: May 2017 Field of Study: Molecular Biology Abstract: The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is an evolutionarily conserved serine/threonine kinase. mTOR comprises the mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) which is often dysregulated in cancer and metabolism. While mTORC1 is activated by various extracellular and intracellular signals such as nutrient levels, energy status, growth factors and stress, amino acids are the strongest stimuli. Here we tested each of the twenty standard amino acids in a concentration and time dependant manner to identify which ones activated mTORC1. Our results revealed that eleven out of twenty amino can activate mTORC1 in mouse, human, and Drosophila cells. These results reveal that multiple amino acids can regulate mTORC1 activity and may help us identify novel therapeutic targets to treat human disease. |
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My Experience:
Going into the Green Fellows program, I was very excited but also very nervous about working in a lab, which turned out to be baseless because everyone was very helpful and approachable whenever I needed help, which, initially, was very often since I didn't have a lot of prior research experience. It took some time to learn the required techniques and tons of practice to slowly transition from Bad to Ugly to Good Westerns. It was quite frustrating and disappointing when things just didn't seem to go right, even if it wasn't something I did wrong. This was one of the biggest things I learned through Green Fellows though, which was how to keep on going despite repeatedly encountering failure. It definitely felt worth it though once you got good results, because the feeling of seeing the final result of all of the time, effort and hard work you put in was unparalleled. Looking back, it feels amazing thinking about how much I've learned about research and grown through just one semester. There was no better way to experience what doing research really feels like because it exposed me to the highs and the lows, and for that, I'm very thankful for the Green Fellows program. |
Every lab has a different culture and you'll be spending so much of your time in lab, so it always helps to choose your lab wisely, make friends in lab, and adapt to the environment.
My Advice:
Try to read as much as you can about your topic, which will make it much easier to formulate intelligent questions and create a project. This is a unique opportunity, where the more you put in, the more you get out, so immerse yourself in lab to make full use of it. Every lab has a different culture and you'll be spending so much of your time in lab, so it always helps to choose your lab wisely, make friends in lab, and adapt to the environment. The program can be quite demanding time-wise, so it's best if you don't have to divide your attention between working in the lab and studying for the MCAT if you're pre-med. Also, the postdocs or grad students you're working with in your lab may not know how much (or if) you already know about different lab techniques or procedures, so feel free to ask for help when you're working with something new or are confused. Most of all, don't forget to have fun and talk to the other grad students, Green Fellows, and other researchers around you because your experiments may or may not work, but the experience you get out of it is yours to keep!
Try to read as much as you can about your topic, which will make it much easier to formulate intelligent questions and create a project. This is a unique opportunity, where the more you put in, the more you get out, so immerse yourself in lab to make full use of it. Every lab has a different culture and you'll be spending so much of your time in lab, so it always helps to choose your lab wisely, make friends in lab, and adapt to the environment. The program can be quite demanding time-wise, so it's best if you don't have to divide your attention between working in the lab and studying for the MCAT if you're pre-med. Also, the postdocs or grad students you're working with in your lab may not know how much (or if) you already know about different lab techniques or procedures, so feel free to ask for help when you're working with something new or are confused. Most of all, don't forget to have fun and talk to the other grad students, Green Fellows, and other researchers around you because your experiments may or may not work, but the experience you get out of it is yours to keep!