Jitika Rajpoot

Experience

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  Technothlon 2017

  Oct 2016 - Sept 2017

  Chief organiser

  Technothlon is a unique test of logic conducted all over India by student fraternity of IIT Guwahati every year.

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  Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati

  Jan 2018 - May 2019

  Undergraduate Researcher

  - Cloned the Matrix protein gene of an RNA virus in a eukaryotic expression vector. - Isolated RNA and confirmed transcription of matrix protein using RT PCR - Analyzed the effect of matrix protein on growth kinetics, cell viability and accumulation of oxidative stress in yeast cells by staining them and performing flow cytometry. - Marked different organelles using stains and performed Fluorescence microscopy to analyze the morphological changes in cell organelles and to study the localization of matrix protein in cell organelles. Show less

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  University of Nottingham

  May 2018 - Jul 2018

  Summer Research Intern

  - Using Spectroscopic techniques, studied the inhibition kinetics for an enzyme and established the IC50 value of the inhibitor using tools from GraphPad Prism.- Examined, using spectroscopic techniques, the variation in the level of enzyme found in the brain over a large age group. Also performed western blots to verify the presence of protein and to quantify it in each sample.

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  Stony Brook University

  Aug 2019 - Apr 2021

  Determining the structural characteristics and aggregation mechanism of Aβ40, Aβ42 and their familial mutants including Dutch, Italian, Iowa and Arctic mutations in vitro.Also studying their interaction with human smooth muscle cells.Techniques & instruments: Nuclear magnetic resonance, Transmission electron microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, FTIR, and size exclusion chromatography.Publication - Rajpoot, Jitika et al. “Insights into Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Type 1 and Type 2 from Comparisons of the Fibrillar Assembly and Stability of the Aβ40-Iowa and Aβ40-Dutch Peptides.” Biochemistry vol. 61,12 (2022): 1181-1198. doi:10.1021/acs.biochem.1c00781 Show less

  • Research Assistant

    Jan 2020 - Apr 2021

  • Teaching Assistant

    Aug 2019 - Jan 2020
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  Purdue University

  May 2022 - now

  As a graduate researcher in Dr. Gaurav Chopra's lab, I am leading innovative research on the role of lipid droplets (LDs) in Alzheimer's disease. I focus on understanding how degrading LDs in microglial cells—resident immune cells of the brain—can impact disease progression. In advanced stages of AD, the accumulation of LDs and plaques accelerates neurodegeneration. I am at the forefront of studying a novel DGAT2-degrading drug, specifically designed and synthesized in our lab, that has shown promise in reducing LDs and plaques in aged AD mouse models, highlighting its potential for late-stage intervention. My expertise includes immunohistochemistry, image analysis, flow cytometry, primary microglial cell isolation, cell culture, mouse handling, and in vivo osmotic pump implantation surgeries.Beyond my work on Alzheimer's, I am actively collaborating with external institutions to investigate the involvement of lipid droplets in glioblastoma and to characterize lipid profiles across various forms of this aggressive cancer Show less As a graduate research assistant in Dr. Aaron Bowman's lab, I investigated the seeded aggregation of tau protein in hiPSC-derived neurons, focusing on early-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD). The human iPSCs were sourced from patients in the LEADS initiative, who developed early-onset AD without any known genetic mutations. My project also aimed to determine how the environmental toxicants might have contributed to the early onset of the disease.During this time, I gained valuable experience in iPSC maintenance, neuronal differentiation from iPSCs, and fluorescent microscopy Show less

  • Graduate Research Assistant

    Jan 2023 - now

  • Graduate Teaching Assistant

    Jan 2023 - May 2023

  • Graduate Research Assistant

    May 2022 - Dec 2022