Mar 29
BMS Student Thrives on KSU-NEOMED Collaboration
As an international student from India, Shreya Gupta has always had her eyes wide open for opportunities. Her interest in cardiovascular and metabolism research brought her to Priya Raman, Ph.D., associate professor of Integrative Medical Sciences, who co-directs the Integrated Pharmaceutical Medicine graduate program at NEOMED. Today, Gupta is in her third year as a graduate student researcher in Dr. Raman’s laboratory.
The career development happened through Gupta’s enrollment in the Kent State University Biomedical Sciences (BMS) graduate degree program, a collaboration that allows Kent State graduate students to enroll concurrently in the NEOMED College of Graduate Studies.
Shreya Gupta writes:
I was interested in the field of cardiovascular sciences and metabolism and NEOMED has a very strong research focus in that area. I connected with Dr. Raman as she had ongoing projects in diabetes and vascular diseases, and it really fits well with my research goals. As a Kent State student, I rotated in her lab for my first semester and found the research intriguing, and further decided to join the lab.I am working on multiple projects, trying to find out mechanistic link between Alzheimer’s and metabolic diseases and other non-lipid causes for vascular diseases. I completed my coursework and candidacy last summer and am currently focused on research in Dr. Raman’s lab in the Heart & Blood Vessel Disease research focus area at NEOMED.
As a NEOMED-Kent State BMS student, I am a part of the Kent State BMS council, which helps to build connections between students studying on different campuses, through seminar series, extracurricular activities and professional development sessions. I like the research arrangement with NEOMED, which gives me opportunities to connect with esteemed speakers in the field through Integrative Medical Sciences (IMS) departmental seminars. I am also a part of two research focus groups: Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, and Heart and Blood Vessel Disease, which allows me to connect with investigators with diverse expertise and to expand my exposure to multiple areas in cardiovascular research.
In addition to offering excellent student research opportunities, NEOMED’s wide array of courses for teaching assistantships allows me to teach and connect with College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy faculty and students. As a NEOMED-Kent State student, I also have opportunities for fellowships and research/travel awards, through both the Kent State Graduate Student Senate (GSS) and the College of Graduate Studies.
I received a Kent State GSS research award of $2,000 in November 2021 for my ongoing project on the role of Thrombospondin in vasculopathy. I am planning to use the award money for the tools needed for experiments and data analysis and to expedite my research. The award has opened up opportunities to present my work at different conferences and symposiums, including at Kent State and the NEOMED Student Research Symposium. I look forward to meeting, networking and getting feedback from professionals working in the field.
