Nickname: Priya

Hometown:  Solan,H.P

Graduate School: Panjab University, Chandigarh

PhD : Jan 2018- Feb 2023

Thesis Title: Role of candidate gene loci in Age related macular degeneration.

Current affiliation: I joined the Tissue Regeneration lab, at the Department of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER),  Mohali as a postdoctoral researcher in April 2023. I am working on a project “Novel genes in the pathogenesis of Glaucoma: A validation in glaucoma patients and animal model.

E-mail: priyabattu78@gmail.com

More about yourself

I am a hardworking and honest person, with positive outlook towards life.  Curiosity and exploratory nature of Leonardo Da Vinci inspires me. I am very fond of animals and I like trekking, visiting different places, playing badminton and sketching.

How would you explain your research in 3 sentences to someone who is not in Science?

I have worked on anti-tubercular drugs induced nephrotoxicity in Wistar rats and its amelioration by herbal extract of Adhatoda vasica. I will be working on biomarker analysis in AMD i.e age related macular degeneration, a disease of elderly which causes irreversible loss of central vision.

About your work

My area of interest is biomarker analysis in Age related macular degeneration. It is a retinal disease particularly affecting macula. In this degeneration of photoreceptors occurs which causes blindness. There are no effective treatments available for this anomaly but progression of its wet form can be stopped by use of anti-VEGF therapy. As dysfunction of retinal pigment epithelium is involved in pathology of AMD. I am particularly interested in enhancing cell survival by working on cell culture system.

How was your experience in Neuroscience Research Lab, how did it contribute to your academic or professional development?

I thoroughly enjoyed brainstorming sessions during journal clubs and seminars. Attending national and international conferences widened my outlook regarding the research being carried out globally. Organising conferences with the labmates under leadership of Dr Akshay Anand helped in imbibing confidence and leadership skills. There were ample opportunities for editing and reviewing manuscripts for various journals which improved my scientific aptitude. Dr Akshay Anand always encouraged us to achieve holistic health by organising yoga sessions daily in CCRYN, PGIMER. Collecting patients one by one and increasing the sample repository slowly showed that the PhD is earned not in a month or a single day but it is years of hardwork which requires consistency. I learnt importance of not losing the heart and perseverence when the experiments failed. Thinking out of the box and tenaciousness can turn failures into success and despair into fun. Neuroscience research lab strictly adheres to principle of teamsmanship as evidenced by distribution of duties amongst the students which they meticulously perform for smooth running of the lab indicating importance of harmony for smooth functioning of organisations.

What are your research interests?

Neuro-opthalmology and Neurogenetics