Neurodegeneration: Insights into Alzheimer’s and Bioinformatics

Hello! Who are you and what are you working on?

I am Arpit and I am currently working as a clinical scientist at Klinikum Rechts der Isar, Technische Universität München. I work in the field of neurodegeneration. My area of research is Alzheimer’s, and I also specialize in bioinformatics.

The main project that we are currently working on is a clinical research on how to handle neurodegeneration. Alzheimer’s as we all know is a progressive disorder and it causes memory degeneration. There are no current treatments for Alzheimer’s. We hope that in the upcoming years our research will play an essential role in the development of therapeutics.

What’s your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

In the initial phase of my research, I was always interested in case studies. I would randomly go through different studies posted in any research paper or any lab site. And one such case study which influenced me was of an acquired savant patient. The patient never had any training in music but following an accident in which his brain was badly injured, he became one of the finest pianists.

This was quite amazing for me. Particularly because among the several sets of neuronal connections, only a few patterns of neuronal connection are attributed for a particular skill set. And a head injury leading to that particular pattern among the several other possibilities was quite thought-provoking. I started looking for internships which involved different aspects of the brain.

I started with circadian rhythm and Huntington’s disorder research, followed by Parkinson’s and then took up work involving Alzheimer’s during my doctoral studies.

Please describe the process of learning, iterating, and creating the project

The process of creating a project starts with identifying the elements that are unknown. This then frames the broad base on which your major goal of research is based. The most essential thing is to have patience. There might be unexpected circumstances or environments which could affect the research. But it is essential to stick to the basics, take your time and connect the dots to reach the big picture. Some of the essential points to always look while doing a research:

1. Collaborate with people from different skill sets. My work always requires collaboration with scientists from different backgrounds.
2. Active interaction with your colleagues always helps you gain new insights and have a fresh perspective to the project.
3. There is no one way to solve a particular research problem. Having a fresh outlook and a broader mindset always helps.
4. As they always say “Learning never stops”. This phrase becomes quite essential for researchers. When you are working on a project it becomes very important to stay updated with the development in that particular field.

Please describe the process of launching the project

We have been working closely with the clinicians and some of our research projects directly involve research that would mimic a clinical setup.

How is everything going nowadays, and what are your plans for the future?

I am currently mid-way to completing my doctoral thesis. Apart from my work in the clinic I also try to work on several other research problems. One of such was our recent work on COVID-19 where we did an extensive in silico study to look at the compounds which could prove beneficial in the therapeutics of COVID 19. One of the most essential outcomes from this project was that we figured out the genes which are conserved and the ones which have a higher chance of mutation.