Perry Katsarakes / Dr. Rohit Chandwani - Week 1

I started the immersion program late, but was able to meet with my mentor, Dr. Chandwani, on Monday of the second week (June 12th), which will be covered along with my additional activities throughout week 2 in a future post. For now, I'll discuss the research interests of my mentor and myself as well as what I hope to get out of this experience!

Dr. Chandwani is a surgical oncologist who specializes primarily in pancreatic and liver cancers. Alongside seeing patients with cancer and performing surgery on them, he also conducts research on cancer epigenetics to help better understand the formation and progression of tumors. My research experience comes primarily from two labs, one where I studied nanoparticles (synthesis, characterization, and in-vitro toxicity assessments) and another where I experimented with improving chemotherapeutic drug efficacy using ultrasound. I hope to combine these two interests, nanotechnology and oncology, in my studies as an incoming Ph.D. candidate. 

Dr. Chandwani's work seemed like the perfect opportunity to learn more about cancer and get some hands-on experience with how it is treated in real patients, as my experience has been limited strictly to animal models. I'm excited to collaborate with him in the process of determining and applying the best course of treatment based on each specific case, which I believe will significantly benefit my ability to develop and improve cancer treatments in my future research. This program will also provide me with some much-needed clinical experience, which will certainly be useful when it comes to conducting trials of new drugs or treatment methods in human patients, something I hope to one day be involved in.

Alongside shadowing Dr. Chandwani, I will also be spending some time in Dr. Dan Heller's laboratory. Dr. Heller conducts research in exactly my area of interest, that is, the intersection of nanotechnology and cancer therapeutics. Some of his work includes developing drug delivery methods that can target drugs to tumors, a field that I am particularly attracted to given my background in nanoparticle research. This will be an opportunity for me to rotate in his lab over the course of the immersion program prior to my first official semester as a Ph.D. candidate, where I will be rotating in another lab at the Ithaca campus. I'm very excited to see if this lab will be a good fit for me, as it could be where I end up spending the rest of my graduate education! 

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