Post Doctoral Research Fellow
Texas Tech University
My area of interest lies in preventative medicine particularly in designing lifestyle and dietary interventions to treat and manage chronic diseases and infectious diseases. My academic training has helped hone my skillsets and given me experience in clinical research in this field. As an undergraduate I acquired a Bachelor of Science in Medicine (MBBS) from KLE University, Karnataka-India. This degree and all the coursework and clinical training really helped sharpen my expertise as a medical professional. After completing my MBBS, I joined VerGO clinicals, a clinical research organization, where I was the appointed study physician for clinical trials. I managed drug dosing, reporting and handling of adverse events, and conducted medical evaluations of study participants. Moreover, I worked closely at government hospitals during my clinical rotations, where I treated various patients suffering from nutrient related deficiencies or chronic conditions like obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. While working closely with frontline physicians during COVID-19, I also witnessed the burden of chronic conditions on infectious diseases. That, along with my background as a clinician, piqued my interest in the works of the pioneer of Infectobesity, Dr. Nikhil Dhurandhar. I successfully completed my PhD program under his mentorship at Texas Tech University. Now I continue to work as a Post Doctoral Research Fellow in the IRB approved AEGIS clinical study which was my dissertation project which is an ancillary project : “SARS CoV2 Infection, Body Weight Changes, and Implications for Cardiometabolic Risk Profile”. Additionally, I am involved in conducting a systematic review to compare structured v/s. unstructured weight loss strategies. I have am also involved in the conduct of the high protein ramen noodle study and the Small Changes Diet software clinical study. Since my very first semester at TTU, I have also joined the Nutrition and Metabolic Health Initiative as a student provider where I work alongside registered dieticians and clinicians on various obesity management and lifestyle modification programs. Here, I also serve as a trained technician on metabolic testing.