I’m Vaishnavi and I’m from Bangalore, India. I have a master’s degree in Stem Cell Technology and Regenerative Biology. I decided to specialize on and work with induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and other stem cells after they captured my attention in one of my Bachelor modules. I have been part of a few projects in India and Germany that used iPSCs for 2D and 3D modelling of human diseases. I am now looking forward to tackling retinitis pigmentosa (RP) using retinal organoid model systems in my PhD!
The primary reason I wanted to be a part of this project is because I am intrigued by 3D human disease modelling and translational science. Over the next few years, I will be working on improving the efficiency of gene augmentation therapy for RP with the assistance of RNA tools. I believe these patient-specific 3D models are the closest we have at this point to personalised medicine and I will work for my project to progress and yield an impact in the clinics as well!