Krish Nair always figured he’d find a place in science. But where?
Last summer, before he even became a first-year student in the College of Medicine, Nair dipped his toe into the area of scientific research by participating in NEOMED’s annual Summer Research Fellowship Program—and being honored for his outstanding presentation at Poster Day.
“Behavioral Responses to Species-Specific Social Vocalization” was the title of his summer project. In the simplest terms, says Nair, the team wants to know and understand how mice react to sound and how those sounds make changes in the brain. There are two aspects to the research, one more difficult than the other, he says. The first is to look at the behaviors. The second is to actually look at chemicals in the brain, which can get “really, really complicated.’’
Despite a schedule that sometimes can be strenuous, the medicine student still finds time to make his way to the lab and work with a team on his research. Although his time is limited, he continues to work on the analysis portion of the work. Nair is a co-author on the abstract.
The team’s persistence has paid off. This month, Nair traveled with Zahra Ghasemahmad, a graduate student who doubles as the team lead, along with Principal Investigator Jeff Wenstrup, Ph.D., professor and chair of anatomy and neurobiology, to the Association of Research in Otolaryngology Annual MidWinter Meeting in San Diego to present their findings.