Through the Outstanding Scholars program, 3rd year Neuroscience students Sahibjot Grewal and Anshika Jain have joined Dr. Siyaram Pandey's team to help develop natural remedy cures for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's Disease and cancer. During their 2nd year, both Sahibjot and Anshika were recognized as extremely motivated students with a goal of going to medical school and becoming doctors. Dr. Siyaram Pandey explained, "we have a very successful lab and we have had over 50 graduates from our lab enter the medical profession to date. The students' inspiration and motivation is of prime importance. Many of our students spend far more hours in the lab than they are required to and this is solely because they are passionate about the research. I saw these qualities in Sahib and Anshika and this is why they are working with me now." Several areas of research are covered in Dr. Pandey's lab, but Sahibjot and Anshika have both dialed in on the specific projects that interest them most as individuals.
Sahibjot's interest in the lab was spiked by personal experience and beliefs of his, "when I was searching the research appointments, I came across one that was focused on finding treatments for prostate cancer using natural extracts, like lemon grass and dandelion root extract. This project interested me personally because my grandfather had prostate cancer and because natural remedies align with my cultural beliefs. All-considering, it seemed like a perfect match." When Sahibjot started in the lab, he learned several experiment techniques including culturing and treating cells. Now, Sahib is self sufficient in the lab and is executing experiment work to further the research and prove the benefits and safety of natural remedy use during chemotherapy. "Seeing firsthand that these methods are working is really inspiring. When I went into research, I wasn't sure what to expect-but it has opened my mind more than I could have imagined. Now, I question treatments-drugs-clinical trials-because I understand the detailed work behind them. It's definitely made me appreciate everything that we have in the healthcare field now far more, and it gives me hope that curing cancer may not be as impossible as I once thought."
Anshika approached Dr. Pandey about a project focused on the treatment of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease using ashwaganda and COQ10 based on an upper classmate's recommendation and her interest in natural treatments. "I heard good things about the lab and I wanted to see how I could apply what I was learning in the classroom about neuroscience to a more hands-on setting." Like Sahibjot, Anshika spent her beginning lab hours learning lab techniques-preparing treatments, feeding them to the mice, sacrificing the mice, removing brains and sectioning the brains for further analysis. Now, Anshika is trialing various compositions of treatment formulas to see whether or not the treatments improve the memory of the mice. Once the best composition ratios for the treatments are determined they will be further investigated. Anshika is very grateful for the opportunity to be in the lab and gain insightful experience-"This has really broadened my horizon. I look at different health problems very differently now. I realize that everything has a lot of process behind it. Being a part of the R&D side of the picture, I've realized that our field is always coming up with new solutions and becoming better. Because of this experience I definitely want to extend research work into my career as a medical doctor, so I can work towards developing treatments in the future, too."
Dr. Pandey describes Sahibjot and Anshika as "the next generation of workforce". "This exposure gives me a comfort that these are good students with developed research abilities and interpersonal skills. Most importantly, though, these students are compassionate-they want to do something positive for the community. This is exactly who we want taking care of us in the future."