ZINAL CHHEDA ~ MS/PhD (program name) ~ Fall 2010

SAEMEN !F P"#P!SE
How could a polymer of just 4 nucleotides become the blueprint of an entire being? This was
difficult to fathom in the XII grade when I had just been introduced to D! and its cell structure"
It raised many #uestions which ha$e partially been answered in my undergraduate and master%s
course in &iotechnology" !nd the search continues fuelling the desire to do a doctorate' and
unra$el the answers( answers pertaining to )olecular &iology and Immunology' specifically
relating to human diseases( cancers to be more specific"
*ancer today is the biggest +iller' and a million cases a year are predicted to surface in India
alone" I am intrigued by the whole process of normal cells getting cancerous and metastatic'
escaping detection by the immune system , defect in apoptosis' defect in tumor suppressor genes
and oncogenes' etc" !ttending an international conference on )ultiple )yeloma' what%s new
held in )umbai in -../' brought in me the reali0ation of latest updates being gleaned from
attending conferences" !nd it sto+ed again my interest in !poptosis and 1ene silencing which
could be used as a therapeutic anti,cancer tool" 2ubscribing to the newsletters by !T345
&iotechnology journals' 6ncogene' &ritish 7ournal of *ancer' *ancer gene Therapy' etc I ha$e
+ept abreast of the research currently being done"
The three years of my &achelor studies in &iotechnology set the foundation stones for a career in
)olecular &iology" De$eloping a project' with help from my classmates and teachers' for a
science e8hibition on 2ingle *ell protein production' together with a small model of the 2*9
bioreactor indicating the parts of a fermenter' was also a lesson learned in collecti$e
brainstorming" The summer $acation saw me undergoing a month%s training in *linical
)icrobiology at 7"7" Hospital' learning about media preparation' bacteriology' mycology and
serology that included $arious tests li+e 5:I2!' ;ID!:' <D4:' =!*2 counting etc" &y the
third year' mesmeri0ed by )olecular &iology' I gained insights on D! typing' 4ecombinant
D! technology' How 1ene libraries are formed and maintained' *ell *ycle' Immunology'
Tissue *ulture etc" I was the topper in the subject >)olecular and cell &iology% as well as
>Immunology"% These particular areas truly fascinated me and e$entually were the bedroc+ for
my )asters in the same"
)y two years for a )aster%s in &iotechnology reinforced my desire to foray into research" )y
entry for a competition with a research paper based on HI<? *omplete +noc+down of **4@
coreceptor by si4! A hence protection against HI<,B infection and Telomerase inhibition by
si4! causes senescence A apoptosis in &arett%s adenocarcinoma cells' mechanism A
therapeutic potential' was my introduction to the si4! re$olution' which in turn propagated
for me the training in instrumentation li+e 3<, <isible 2pectrophotometer' 1:*' H9:*' pH
meter' ephalometer from 4eliable !nalytical :abs" It was the beginning of the point of no
return into the challenging world of research" I followed this up as a research assistant in the
one month project on **4@,delta C- deletion in HI< patients at IIH' I*)4 under the
guidance of Dr" !runa 9awar" The project got selected for the International conference on
=undamental and Translational 4esearch on HI<D!ID2? 1lobal 9erspecti$es' -..E and got
published in its !bstract &oo+' citing me as a co,author" The highlight of my )aster%s howe$er
was my research project on #ole o$ HLA%& 1'(p )el/*n+ pol,morph*+m *n #e-.rren/
Spon/aneo.+ A(or/*on (#SA) pa/*en/+ o$ M.m(a* under the guidance of Dr0 "0
Shan1ar1.mar a/ NIIH2 a par/ ICM#' one of the India%s leading research institutes" )y
ZINAL CHHEDA ~ MS/PhD (program name) ~ Fall 2010
SAEMEN !F P"#P!SE
project in$ol$ed finding out the fre#uency of the polymorphism in @. 42! patients $Ds 4B
ormals in )umbai and finding the same in -C 42! couples and B4 normal couples" The project
was further e8tended to study the haplotype sharing in couples and its significance in 42!" !lso
I tried to find out whether presence of anti,H:! !b in 42! women has any correlation with
42!" I got $ery interesting data with the delDdel genotype significantly protecti$e against 42!
and Haplotype 2haring significantly associated to 42!" The insDins genotype was found to be
higher in 42! patients $Ds ormals"
This project was selected for 9oster presentation at the C-
nd
!nnual *onference of )umbai
Haematology group F)H1G' -../ and the synopsis was published in the )H1%s !bstract &oo+"
It was also selected for poster presentation at the International *onference at Delhi called
!25!TT!' -../" This research has thrown open many future prospects( it could be used as a
diagnostic assay for determining 42! and in Immunotherapy" =ew studies show that H:!,1
might be used as a defense mechanism by cancer cells to e$ade immune recognition by the host"
I wish to find the correlation of H:!,1 in cancers"
!longside academics I participated in $arious competitions and seminars on $arious subjects'
adding to my +nowledge ban+ and de$eloping a competiti$e edge" )y academic co,curricular
thrusts were balanced out with essay and elocution competitions' winning many of them' and
once e$en being the only one selected among a class of C@ students for the inter, collegiate
competition ;ordsmith' a literary festi$al" Ta+ing on the mantle of *hief 6rgani0er of the
Intercollegiate festi$al, 1eneopsis' I learned $aluable organi0ing and leadership #ualities" )ost
of my leisure time was spent either in reading or learning the guitar" 2o it e8cited me no end
when I learned that music had been used to identify aberrant gene e8pressions in cancer( an
abiding interest of mine that could also be enlisted for research"
;ith a strong belief that curiosity and creati$ity is the dri$ing force behind research' and that
e$ery new fact brought to light brings in its trail numerous #uestions' I +now that my interest in
research will be unflagging" I also belie$e that learning is an ongoing process throughout life"
=ollowing closely the e8citing research underta+en at your uni$ersity' I hope to be numbered
among the pri$ileged there" I reali0e that there would be many applying for the same program'
but my thirst for +nowledge' my dedication towards it and my firm grip in academics as apparent
from my past performances' with an ultimate aim of contributing significantly to the society are
my strongest points fa$oring me with the challenge of research at your renowned institution" I
humbly hope that I will be considered worthy"
HIIH