Gita Byraiah , CBS 2009
A Breast Cancer Case-Control Study
Major
Biology
Mentors
Myron Gross, School of Public Health
Brief Bio
I am involved with various student groups including Biology Without Borders which focuses on volunteering abroad. I am involved with the Public Health Association, and the Indian Student Association. I like to travel, and have studied aborad in Spain.
Future Plans
I hope to get my masters in public health and also go to medical school. I want to practice medicine with a public health emphasis.
Why Research?
I felt it was an important part of my undergraduate experience. My research has a public health emphasis, and what I want to study in the future relates to this.
What Did I Get from Research?
I have the opportunity to meet with patients, and get blood samples from them. I was involved in the whole research process. It was interesting to see how the research process works. I helped with making the research protocol, and I found that very interesting.
How Did I Start?
I was looking through the faculty in the School of Public Health website. I asked if I could meet with my mentor, and we met. We then discussed doing a project and a wrote and submitted a UROP proposal.
My Advice for Another Student:
Be persistent. If it is something really interests you be persistent and something will come through.
Research Summary
We have gone to clinics and collected blood samples, demographic information and medical history from breast cancer patients. The blood is then processed and analyzed for DNA Nucleotide Excision Repair (NER) activity. We want to see how reduced NER activity affects the onset of breast cancer.