hypergavity, stress, and dopaminergic neuron loss

This was a year-long post-bacc research experience

Prior to graduate school, I spent a gap year working in Dr. Sharmila Bhattacharya’s lab at NASA Ames Research Center.

I first joined the lab in the summer of 2016 through the Space Life Sciences and Training Program (SLSTP), then continued in the lab full-time from 2016-2017 as a Research Associate through the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science (BMSIS)’s Young Scientist Program.

Working with Dr. Ravikumar Hosamani, one of my project’s tested whether endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress could explain an observed increased mortality rate in Drosophila exposed to hypergravity. We found no genetic or molecular evidence to support this hypothesis. This result allowed us to explore other physiological pathways that could be affected by altered gravity.

My second project focused on characterizing the loss of dopaminergic neurons, a model for the progression of Parkinson’s disease, in flies exposed to chronic hypergravity. This work is ongoing in Dr. Bhattacharya’s lab, and is essential as we move to understand and anticipate biomedical impacts of long-term spaceflight and exposure to altered gravity.

This year-long research experience also provided me multiple opportunities to share my research with scientific audiences and the general public.

In addition to internal poster and oral presentations, I gave a talk on my research at the the American Society for Gravitational Space Research (ASGSR) Annual Meeting in October 2016.

BMSIS also emphasized the roles of scientists in society, effective communication to the public, and thoughtful reflection on the ethical implications of our research. In conjunction with those goals, I wrote an essay on the ethical considerations of building solar panels in desert habitats, and made a short video for general audiences describing why fruit flies are an excellent model for human disease.