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In high school, I had lots of experience in dry-lab, bioinformatics research in psychiatry and oncology. When I came to Penn, however, I was eager for a change, instead seeking to do wet-lab research in neurodegeneration, which was absolutely fascinating to me. My second semester, once I arrived on campus, I was able to get that opportunity, joining the lab of Dr. Douglas Smith in the Perelman School of Medicine. Our research is focused on studying how diffuse axonal injury from severe concussions leads to progressive neurodegeneration and eventually the development of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Additionally, due to COVID, and studying for the MCAT I went back to my hometown of Cincinnati the past two summers, and I conducted orthopaedics research under the mentorship of Dr. Roger Cornwall (2021) and Cardiothoracic Surgery Research under the mentorship of Dr. David Morales (2022) via the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program at the University of Cincinnati. I studied the effects of the PSMB6 gene on contracture development in neonatal brachial plexus injury (NBPI) in Orthopedics, and through the experience, I was able to learn and practice many molecular techniques such as Western Blot and qPCR, and present my research on a poster. This past summer, I presented a poster and worked on an abstract and paper researching the effects on the time between donor admission and brain death pronouncement on recipient survival in heart transplant patients. I've learned a lot throughout my journey so far in research, and I look forward to helping other eager undergraduates do the same.

  • Undergraduate Researcher, Smith Neurotrauma Lab, Department of Neurosurgery, Perelman School of Medicine (January 2021-Present)
  • Research Intern, Morales Lab, Cardiothoracic Surgery Department, Cincinnati Children's Medical Center- UC SURF Program (May 2022-August 2022)
  • Research Intern, Cornwall Lab, Orthopaedics Department, Cincinnati Children's Medical Center- UC SURF Program (May 2021-August 2021)
  • Research Intern, University of Cincinnati Cancer Institute (June 2019-December 2020)
  • Research Intern, DelBello Lab, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Cincinnati School of Medicine (June 2018-August 2020)
  • Poster Presentations: University of Cincinnati SURF Poster Symposium (2021, 2022)

Additional groups/interests: Daily Pennsylvanian, Educational Pipeline

Affiliations: Community Engagement
Academic Major(s): Neuroscience
Eashwar Kantemneni