Indu Prakash is a junior concentrating in Molecular and Cellular Biology. Indu works under the mentorship of Dr. Pardis Sabeti and Dr. Jacob Lemiuex at the FAS Center for Systems Biology on a project that aims at improving diagnostic method for Lyme disease.
Student's perspective:
I am glad I was able to take part in tick-borne disease research as it has always held a personal connection to me. Ever since I was bit by a tick and faced the consequence of Lyme disease for many years, I have wanted to contribute to research that would diagnose the disease more effectively or prevent it. I love research and having worked with this topic was a dream come true. This experience has made me realize just how much I can contribute to a change in existing diagnostics which drives me to want to continue this research. I definitely want to include this project into my thesis and delve more into tick-borne disease research. My time at the lab has been a wonderful opportunity, and has taught me so much about patience and developing new skills such as learning Python and how to use it for data analysis. The Sabeti Lab has been very supportive and my mentors Dr. Sabeti and Dr. Lemieux have guided me throughout this process, mentoring me both in the project and my interests regarding infectious diseases. Infectious disease is an area of research that I have come to love and I would love to be involved in treating infectious diseases in the future both through research and as a physician.