Ambition and Aspiration: Queens Pre-Med Student Lands Competitive Research Fellowship at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute

After a successful first year at Queens University of Charlotte, which included serving as Student Government Association class president, pre-med biology major Sandhya (Sana) Konar was selected for a highly competitive research opportunity. As one of just 10 fellows at the prestigious Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) this past summer, Konar dedicated her days to making significant strides in cutting-edge medical research.

At the HSCI, Konar worked with fellow researchers under the supervision of Dr. David Scadden, founding co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Their research focused on creating a specialized cell that was designed to light up or change color anytime it made a key immune protein called CCL19, which is key to how the thymus gland recruits cells to create T-cells. T-cells are specialized white blood cells that fight off infections and diseases.

This glowing cell system will allow the researchers to rapidly test thousands of different genes to figure out which ones control the ‘on/off switch’ for CCL19 production. The goal of this research is to gain knowledge so medical scientists can develop new medicines or treatments to improve immune conditions related to the thymus or CCL19.