Research Experiences
Research in the Endocrine System:
Designing an accurate insulin pump - under the guidance of Dr. Sanjay Sonar, Ph.D., IIT Mumbai, MIT USA, Boston University, MD of Biogenomics Ltd.
The objective was to design a new and efficient closed-loop insulin pump mimicking the pancreas, to pump insulin continuously and accurately to keep the diabetic patient euglycemic.
The pump will have next-generation features such as auto-upgradability, disease-treatment tracking, and personalization.
The pump will increase the user’s quality of life better than that experienced by the usage of the pre-existing models.
Learned about the process of making insulin in laboratories using recombinant DNA technology, explored the constant regulation of the blood sugar by hormones (especially insulin) and about the various methods of injecting insulin in the human body, different insulin pump designs, and the shortcomings of the current methods and pumps.
Developed algorithms and software programs in Python to operate the pump.
Research in Cancer:
Analyzing and addressing the high fatality rate of 98% due to cancer, in women in India.
Learned to research and assimilate the findings in varied subject areas- biology of the disease, demographics, and statistics.
The main reason for the high fatality rate was the abysmal rate of early detection.
It was due to facilities to conduct diagnoses not available in towns and villages, the cost of diagnosis is unaffordable for the poor, and women cannot talk about the symptoms with men in the patriarchal society.
If detected early, not only is the cost of treatment very low, but the chances of survival are very high (over 90%).
Unfortunately, though the fatalities are higher than covid-19 and other prevalent diseases in India, cancer in women is not the government’s priority.
The paper provides an innovative solution to the government to get all women to undergo regular examination for free, by providing mobile diagnosis facilities to cover villages and towns, the cost of which pales in comparison to the budget allocated to covid care, polio, or tuberculosis eradication programs.
It concludes by seeking to make an early diagnosis an executive responsibility of the government.
Research in IB Curriculum
Extended Essay in Biology - research and experimenting on the topic “The effect of the antioxidant Vitamin C on the growth and productivity of Lens culinaris Medick under salinity stress generated by NaCl”
Conducted experiments to check the impact of the extent of salinity on chlorophyll generation and thereby the growth
Investigated how the addition of Vitamin C in the soil reduces the impact of salinization.
Psychology Internal Assessment - Replicating the “Halo Effect”
Conducted a study with high school students to replicate the “The Halo Effect,” a cognitive bias presented by Nisbett and Wilson, which indicates the human tendency to classify other unknown qualities of a person based on the first impression of some positive or negative characteristics.
Biology Internal Assessment - Effect of Wifi radiation on plant growth
Researched the effect of Wifi radiation on the growth of Pisum sativum, Brassica oleracea var. Italica, Lepidium sativum, Triticum aestivum.
Chemistry Internal Assessment - Temperature for an efficient Haber’s process reaction
Researched at what temperature is Haber's process reaction the most efficient in terms of the concentration of product formed and the rate of reaction for industrially manufacturing gaseous NH3.
Mathematics Internal Assessment - Constructing a 12-hour sundial
Constructed a 12 hour-horizontal sundial to determine the time of day and year, from Mumbai, by tracing patterns and movements of the sun, using geometry, trigonometry, and graphs.