Modern Medicine has made tremendous strides in the last few decades. But as longevity increases, so does the risk of age related diseases which affect the quality of living !
Shakshi Sharma (PhD), our next pathbreaker, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at UAMS – University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, is part of both bench and clinical research that focuses on prevention of cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Dementia and Delirium.
Shakshi talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about her PhD research in which she utilized probiotic microorganisms to synthesize silver nanoparticles and evaluated their important applications in food safety and health.
For students, all the sciences are interrelated, and we just need to break the silos to bring them all together to paint a bigger/better picture !
Shakshi, can you share your background with our young readers?
I grew up in the beautiful state of Himachal Pradesh and did all my studies from there. My Father retired as an engineer from the state’s electricity department and my mother is a homemaker. I have one sibling and he is studying in Canada. My parents always encouraged me to have a bigger goal in life. Initially, I had plans to either join the army or clear the Himachal administrative services exam and settle with a government job. But I think destiny had other plans and I ended up with a PhD in Microbiology. At the time I was least interested in the program, unaware of the fact that it would help me in different ways. Other careers would also have been great, however, like I mentioned, destiny had other plans for me. I was guided very well throughout my Bachelors, Masters, and PhD programs and whatever I have achieved, I would give the credit to the guidance I received.
What did you do for graduation/post-graduation?
I did my bachelors in Biotechnology (Honors) from HPU, Shimla and secured 5th rank all over the state. After that, I joined Dr. Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan for my master’s and PhD. I worked under the guidance of Dr. Nivedita Sharma and in 2020, I completed my PhD in Microbiology. I was lucky enough to get a University scholarship to complete my studies.
What were some of the drivers that influenced you to pursue such an offbeat, unconventional and unusual research career?
To be honest, I was not sure about pursuing a scientific research career in the beginning. As I briefly mentioned before, after my master’s, I wanted to prepare for the state’s government services exam. I wanted to take a year gap to prepare for that. Meanwhile, I got a government seat in PhD but wanted to give up my seat. However, my PI/guide Dr. Nivedita Sharma called my father and asked him to encourage me to not give up my seat and pursue this career. That was the turning point that led me to where I am right now.
Dr. Nivedita Sharma: The reason I am following this career of research is because of Nivedita Ma’am. She saw the potential in me and always motivated me to achieve more. However, at that time her strict ways seemed to be a little harsh, but now as I look back and see myself where I am today, I think it shaped me for a better future. She gave me confidence and faith that I can be successful in life. I am really grateful to her for believing in me.
After coming to the US, my husband encouraged me to look for a job. My husband is like the wind beneath my wings and my biggest cheerleader. I started applying to different universities all over the US. I was not sure if I could get a job here as my entire schooling was from India. I faced a lot of rejections. I was looking for a career where I could utilize my knowledge of food microbiology to benefit health sciences.
Finally in February 2021, I remembered this time vividly, I received a call from my now PI Dr. Gohar Azhar. She offered me a job as a Postdoctoral Fellow at UAMS, which was another turning point of my life. She told me about aging research. I have worked on probiotics and nutrition in my masters and PhD program and was asked to use that knowledge in research that could benefit older people. This was the very moment I realized my passion of working as a researcher and contributing in the field of geriatrics. Dr. Jeanne Wei (my current PI) and Dr. Azhar are an inspiration who lit a spark in me about aging research and also made me a part of their clinical research team which is continuously working to find ways to improve aging in older adults by preventing diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.
How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Or how did you make a transition to a new career? Tell us about your career path
Studying at Dr. YS Parmar Nauni exposed me towards the field of scientific research. I explored the importance of probiotics and their health benefits. I prepared functional food products that when enriched with probiotics could prevent different diseases as a part of my master’s research. In my PhD research I further utilized the probiotic microorganisms to synthesize silver nanoparticles and evaluated their important application in food safety and health. I had learned different molecular biology techniques that helped in different health related projects. I was looking for a job where I could utilize the knowledge about probiotics and nutrition to benefit humans. I read about geriatric research before, but was not sure how I could use my expertise in this field. When I started my job, I came across different aspects that older people go through to live a healthy life. Aging population is growing exponentially worldwide. There are different challenges and problems that come with aging. To promote healthy aging, we have to find a solution to preventing diseases such as Alzheimer’s. The transition was very evident as I was able to relate what I had learnt in my studies and apply it for the new career of aging.
How did you get your first break?
As I mentioned earlier, Dr. Azhar gave me my first job and she is the reason I have a passion in geriatric research/aging. I also would like to thank all the PIs, my lab mates, my school teachers from whom I have learned a lot. I greatly appreciate their guidance
What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?
The first challenge was to get a job in the US, as after PhD I did not have any work experience in India. So, in order to get a job in the US, I worked on improving my CV and writing manuscripts. I also attended multiple online training workshops related to my field.
Career Transition: Initially, I was not getting a job related to my field, however, when I applied for a postdoc in aging, I got selected. While working on aging research, I have tried to incorporate my knowledge about microbiology and nutrition in this field.
Initially, most of my experience was within the realm of Microbiology, and due to that I had some troubles understanding some of the aging terms which were more related to human anatomy. However, after reading multiple articles and reading material about aging (thanks to my PI, Dr. Wei and Dr. Azhar), I was able to overcome that knowledge gap and was able to start contributing to the field. With my knowledge in Microbiology, I was further able to bridge the gaps in the two studies and that has helped me do some interesting work. As I have mentioned before, all the sciences are interrelated, and we just need to break the silos to bring them all together to paint a bigger/better picture. This has only helped me further the cause and I am grateful for the opportunity.
Where do you work now? Tell us about your research
I work at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences as a Postdoctoral Fellow.
I am a part of both bench and clinical research in my department and my work focuses on finding a cure for prevention of cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s, dementia and delirium. My work requires the utilization of different molecular biology, microbiology techniques. I learned some of these techniques during my Masters and PhD training. Also, I have learned a lot of new skills from my colleagues and experts in the lab where I work. To work in clinical research, I went through multiple trainings, on how to enroll patients, how to get their consent to participate in the clinical study and to educate them about clinical research.
What’s a typical day like?
I am also actively working with mouse models. My day usually starts at 9 am with planning experiments for the day and getting things done. I spend half of my time in the lab and the other half in my office depending on if I am working on manuscript writing or having any zoom class or any training that I need to attend. We have lab meetings twice a week where I share my work and ideas with my team. We have a great work-life balance. As I mentioned earlier, I work at the Institute of aging, I see lots of older adults (greater than 65 to 95 years) in my institute every day. I am grateful for having supportive and inspiring PIs and colleagues with whom I work. Some of the old people are employees, some are patients, some come to the institute to attend gym and fitness classes, some help in arranging stuff around for the clinical research team. These people inspire me to stay fit and keep working. There is one professor in my institute who is 90 years old and is still getting funding for Alzheimer’s research. Seeing her so passionate about research inspires me and everyone around to do something good. After work, my husband and I take our son to the park and spend time with him. This is the best way to end the day for us as a family.
How does your work benefit society?
Aging research is important to improve the health and productive longevity of our elderly population. As the population of older people increases tremendously worldwide, the risk of diseases like Alzheimer and dementia also increases. My work as a scientific researcher is to find a way to prevent these diseases and promote healthy aging, by doing research and experiments in cell lines and animal models and by conducting different clinical research projects.
Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!
I enjoyed all the work and new things that I have learned in my present role. I am grateful to God for all of this. The memorable part would have to be my interactions with older participants. As part of clinical studies, we are often required to converse with older adults about programs or to get some blood samples for testing. One day when we were interviewing a female participant (89 years old), she wanted to be part of the clinical study for preventing dementia. Her husband had Alzheimer’s, so she wanted to help us find a way to prevent or cure this disease. My interactions with her and other participants who wanted to contribute to science were inspiring and will always remain close to my heart.
Your advice to students based on your experience?
My advice would be to keep exploring, keep your head high, you can always make a connection of your previous work to any new field as everything is related in science. Don’t be afraid to try different things. Develop new skills, and make connections. Networking, networking, networking, is the most important thing. Don’t be disheartened if you did not get what you wanted at first. There is definitely something better at the end of the line for you. Don’t worry about the closed doors, you just need a window of opportunity.
Future Plans?
My future plans are to continue working for the aging community by involving myself in aging research and education. I also want to study something else so that I could contribute more in this field. As an individual, there are so many things I want to do and create a name for myself. I want to achieve something and make my parents and family members proud. I enjoy studying and learning new things. I hope I will continue to do the same in the future. Learning should never end, and I would like to end with this last quote that my dad reminds me of all the time: Trust in God and do the right.