BLaST Scientist of the Month March 2018
March 21, 2018
The March 2018 Biomedical Learning and Student Training scientist of the month is Malabika Maulik. Maulik is pursuing a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Neuroscience and has been a BLaST graduate mentoring research assistant since 2015. She received her undergraduate degree in zoology and a master's degree in biotechnology. Before joining UAF, she worked in the pharmaceutical industry on clinical drug development for GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis. She is originally from the state of Assam in northeastern India, an area famous for its tea gardens. In her free time she enjoys walking in the woods and gardening.
Maulik's major research interests are aging, neurodegeneration and nutrition. Her Ph.D. thesis focuses on answering questions about the combined role of diet and supplementation on the molecular pathology of Parkinson's disease. To answer these questions, she uses two popular models: the nematode worm C. elegans and mice. Her studies have unraveled how Alaska botanicals, including endemic Alaska bog blueberries, can improve neuronal health and improve Parkinson's-like pathology by targeting molecular machinery in both models.
At the start of her graduate career, Maulik was a teaching assistant for General Chemistry (105 and 106) for a year. As a BlaST GMRA she, together with Ph.D. graduate Swarup Mitra, co-organized a two-week "boot camp" research course focused on neurodegeneration (BMSC 293) in summer 2017; Maulik is planning another one-week biomedical research methodology course for summer 2018. She also contributed to BLaST's Maymester Biomedical Exploration Experience class in 2016, and served as a guest instructor for the BLaST Research Skills Seminar course (BMSC 393) in fall 2016 and spring 2018.
Maulik's priniciples of mentoring are based on mutual learning and strong interpersonal relationships. As a BLaST GMRA, she has mentored 14 undergraduates and one high school student in the laboratory, most of whom have also been funded by BLaST (five BLAST scholars and four UREs). She has also served as an advisor for two UREs on their undergraduate honors theses.
For more information, contact the UAF BLaST office at 907-474-5111 or email uaf-blast@alaska.edu.