Student Profiles

Poorva graduated with honors from Washington University in St. Louis in 2018 with a B.A. in Biology: Neuroscience. As an undergraduate, she worked with Dr. Yehuda Ben-Shahar investigating the role of the potassium channel SEI in regulating neuronal excitability in periods of acute temperature stress. This project inspired a deep interest in using basic biology to understand complex mechanisms in neurologic disease.

After graduating, Poorva worked at the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford as a Research Professional in Dr. Michelle James Lab. She was interested in developing novel cell-specific and sensitive radiotracers to image neuroinflammation in the context of neurodegenerative disease. She was specifically interested in discovering and validating novel biomarkers of microglia to visualize these heterogenous cells in vivo. Alongside her work as a researcher, she also worked part time as an Emergency Medical Technician providing basic life support to patients in transport.

In 2020, Poorva matriculated into the MSTP at University of Miami. Here she was heavily involved in MSTP programming including planning MSTP symposiums, clinical case reviews, journal clubs, and coordinating mentorship. While completing her clinical clerkships, she identified her medical interests in hematology/oncology and neurology. In summer of 2022, Poorva began her training in the OxCam program and plans to complete her Dphil as a collaboration between Dr. Irene Cortese at NINDS, and Profs. Hashem Koohy and Agne Antanaviciute at Oxford to study adaptive immunity in progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. Ultimately, Poorva dreams to remain in academia as a trained clinician, research leader, and professor.