My name is Shilpa Thankam Shibu and I am an international student from India. I have a Bachelor of Technology in genetics from SRM university in India and I have worked on 3 research projects so far. My first project was about testing the effects of biotin supplementation in drosophila expressing human tau protein using locomotor climbing assays and immunofluorescence assays. The second project was on the genotyping of MTHFR C677T SNP via PCR-RFLP to study the association between C677T polymorphism and alcohol dependence in subjects presenting with alcohol dependence syndrome. I have also interned as a science writer, for over a year, for an education tech company in India.
What inspired me to pursue neuroscience was a unit I took in undergrad titled ‘Genes and Diseases’. The neurodegenerative diseases section of the unit was the hardest and most interesting thing I had learnt till then. I took an extra credits unit online on neuroscience after. I joined the ARC centre after reading about Dr. Nicole Smith’s and Dr. Iyer’s projects, which aligned with my research interests. I wanted to work on a project related to neuroscience and applied research. I also read papers from previous works from the lab before deciding to apply to work with Dr. Iyer.
My current research project is studying neural stem cell differentiation in the presence of CBDs. The objectives are to 1) find a healthy dosage range of CBD for SH SY5Y cells; 2) observe the effects of CBD on the mitochondria of hIPSCs; 3) RNA and metabolomic profiling after CBD treatment. The potential impacts would be that we would find a healthy viable range where CBD treatment can support neural differentiation. The cytotoxic cutoff can also inform future studies about the right dosing. The changes in mitochondria, like the atp production rate, oxygen consumption rate and its morphology will inform us of the effects of CBD on mitochondria. The changes can also be used as a marker for differentiation. RNA sequencing of 4 genes will confirm differentiation of neural stem cells. Untargeted metabolomic profiling will give us a holistic understanding of all the changes CBD induces in the stem cells and its biochemical pathways.
I want to contribute to understanding the knowledge gaps in research about neural stem cells and the drug compounds that can initiate and support neural differentiation. By understanding these compounds, we can design drug therapies that could trigger neurogenesis in patients with neurodegenerative diseases, to make up for the cells they lose to the disease. There is still a long way to go before research and technology can manifest these goals. The training centre has state of the art equipment and facilities where students can learn and train in molecular biology techniques and access to guidance from lecturers and researchers who are experts in their fields. I believe this support will help me achieve my goals.
I read webcomics in my free time and I would love to script write for a science based comic one day.
