Avika Chopra

EDUCATION

College / University

Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India

Highest Degree

Bachelor of Science

Major Subjects

Cell Biology, proteins, enzymes, metabolism of: carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids and nucleotides, bioenergetics, hormone biochemistry, human physiology, molecular biology, concepts in genetics, gene exptression and regulation, genetic engineering and biotechnology, immunology

Country

India

Lab Experience

Qualitative analysis assays of metabolites using spectrophotometry, thin layer chromatography, protein purification techniques, sub-cellular fractionation, visualization of biological samples under microscope, preparation of polytene chromosome slides, ion-exchange chromatography, SDS-page, estimation of enzyme activity, estimation of blood glucose, glucose tolerance test, hematological tests, isolation of chromosomal DNA, total RNA and plasmid DNA, UV absorption spectra of DNA & RNA, culturing Drosophila melanogaster mutant species to study genetic variations, PCR, ELISA, Western Blot, transformation & blue-white-selection, Ouchterlony double diffusion, Mancini radial immunodiffusion, active and passive agglutination reactions, Widal Test, bioinformatics toolks and techniques; sequence retrieval, alignment and protein structure prediction

Projects / Research

2018: Internship at AIIMS, New Delhi: “Role of hyperglycemia on macrophage effectors function in tubercolosis”
Bioinformatics project at Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi: “Immunoinformatic studies of Par h1 Parthenium allergen for epitope identification and mapping”
Project at Sir Venkateswara College, University of Delhi: “To assess the effects of smoking on respiratory and cardiovascular system in young adult population”
Poster presentation at Jaypee Institute, Noida: “Immunotherapy the new generation cancer treatment”
Participated in Mindspar at Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi: “Using mycobacterial fingerprint as a rapid, non-invasive diagnostic test for tubercolosis”

Scholarships / Awards

2019 – 2020:

Stipend by International Max Planck Research School

SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS AND GOALS

In genetics, I enjoy epigenetic studies, genomic imprinting & X-chromosome inactivation, responsible for dosage compensation. I am interested in studying the clinical aspects behind pathology of neurodegenerative diseases which are common these days. Since all our body responses are mainly dependent upon functioning of the brain & CNS, neurodegenerative disorders prove to be devastating if not taken care of at an early stage. Caused due to the damage to the neurons in brain which secrete dopamine required for body balance, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Disease lead to tremors in the limbs initially and dementia, hallucinations & unclear speech at later stages. I would like to work on treatment modalities for the genetic mutations & environmental factors which might be responsible for the disease to run in a family for generations. Bioinformatics can be used to identify variations in the genetic makeup which may be beneficial to control the symptoms if medication starts at an early stage.