Priyanka Desirazu is a Biomedical Engineer, Community STEM Mentor, Cincinnati Race Car Driver, Blogger, Swimmer and Chef all rolled into one.
“My father is a Scientist, so growing up, “The Lab” was always an exciting place to be at! He re-created a Chemistry lab setup at home so I could practice experiments regularly and safely. My mother did her PhD in History and Archeological Sciences and taught French and German. I grew up influenced by a varied mix of this pedigree! Dinner table conversations included quizzes on the Capitals of the World and the Elements of the Periodic Table! I enjoyed Mathematics, was intrigued by computer programming, had a keen interest in Biology, and liked dismantling gadgets and re-building them so ended up doing my Undergrad in Biotechnology Engineering from Sir MVIT in Bangalore, India.”
During that time, she supplemented my learning by doing various internships in the U.S, every summer, thereby narrowing my field of interest to Biomedical Engineering which I found fascinating. “I interned at Harvard Medical School the first year where I worked on the development of novel biomaterials as potential therapeutics for brain cancer. The following year, I interned at the Washington University in St. Louis where I worked on G protein signaling. I attended Summer School at the University of Exeter during the time I thought I might be interested in Environmental Engineering, only to realize that it was something I did not enjoy! Sometimes it is more important to know what you don’t like to help make a decision. Back to focusing on Biomedical Engineering and with that, my goal was to get into Johns Hopkins for their Master’s program in BME.”
Read the full story that first appeared in Seema Magazine here:
Leave a Reply