Manu Verma (2011/12)

What did you get out of the course?

This course provided me with an excellent opportunity to explore and experience the ongoing biomedical research in diverse fields.

Mini projects

For my first mini project, I opted for cancer biology module; I investigated the etiology of Wilms’ tumor suggested to be caused by deregulation of developmental pathways.

During my second mini project, I choose genetics and diseases module and moved on to validate mice model developed to investigate developmental origin of diseases or fetal programming in context of fetal glucocorticoids overexposure.

Maxi project

Lastly during my maxi project, I continued in my previous laboratory and explored the effect of pro-inflammatory cytokines on transcriptional activity of 11β-HSD1, one of the two enzymes regulating intracellular glucocorticoid levels, in context of metabolic syndrome and obesity using an in vitro system.

A head start

Hence this course provided me with ample research experience in diverse areas of biomedical research as well as hands on experience in numerous different analytical techniques involved in those research areas, giving me a head start in my research career.

What are you doing now?

Currently I am working for my PhD at Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, QMRI, University of Edinburgh; investigating the underlying mechanisms by which cardio-metabolic diseases, age-related cognitive decline and chronic inflammation are linked by the role of 11β-HSD1, one of the two enzymes regulating intracellular glucocorticoid levels, in obesity, atherogenesis and ageing respectively.

Where are you hoping to go next?

My long term goal after obtaining my PhD and a post-doc experience is to join industrial biomedical research and development domain focusing on development of novel molecular targeted therapeutics for cardiometabolic disorders.

Genes and disease