Project Mentor

Dr. Nilanjana Maulik
Surgery

Undergraduate Research Opportunity Description

Project Description	To study the role of exosomes in microsignaling mechanism through microRNA and messenger RNAs between various organs and cell types in Cardiovascular diseases and in Critical limb ischemia. Exosomes are small vesicles that are released by almost every cell type and play a crucial role both in the pathogenesis and therapeutic events depending on the status of the cells. They are important mediators of intercellular communication. The project involves open heart surgery and hind limb ischemia in rodents and high tech isolation procedure of exosomes from plasma. This project also provides the opportunity to learn how to examine the specimen under electron microscopy, confocal microscopy, in vitro and in vivo imaging, imaging of exosomes, isolation of total RNA, miRNA from exosomes, analysis of miRNA and mRNA pool from exosomes, and use of genetic animals to study heart failure and critical limb ischemia–Phase I study.
Project Direction	Phase-II will be the translational approach. The good exosomes or the miRNA and mRNA identified from phase I will be injected to various ischemic tissues such as ischemic heart, limb, skin and wound to understand the molecular mechanism related to the disease and its therapy.
Mentorship and Supervision	We will have a model project for each student. We will introduce or discuss the project with the student in the lab meetings. Students will be asked to read related articles. My senior members (Assistant Professor, instructor, senior post-docs) will assist and introduce them with the techniques. Every Tuesday they have to present their work in the lab meeting. They have to sit with their PI’s to discuss their projects thrice a week. They also have to document their attendance every day.
Student Qualifications	Second or third year in college.
Summer Schedule Options	Research Dates: May 29 – August 3, 2018 Schedule: Full-time, M-F schedule, exact hours to be determined
Project Continuation	Fall 2018, Spring 2019
Academic Year Time Commitment	6 hours/week
Possible Thesis Project	No for 2018-19, but yes for 2019-20

Application

Submit an online application for this research opportunity using the form below. The application deadline is Friday, January 26, 2018.

This application requires a cover letter, a resume or CV, a brief statement of research interests, and a brief statement of career interests.