Dr Priya Gururajan
I completed BSc Biochemistry from University of Madras in 2002 with a First-class Distinction and a university medal and then continued to do a Master’s degree in Medical Biochemistry in Post Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Madras which I completed with a First-Class Distinction. I carried out my PhD in the Department of Biochemistry in International centre for Cardiovascular and Thoracic Centre in India (2005-2010) and my research was funded by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR). My research has led to several publications in reputed National and International Journals. During my PhD, I have taught various undergraduate and postgraduate courses and supervised the students for their projects and dissertations. I was working as a Visiting Scientist in the Cardiovascular Department of St.George’s University of London where I was involved in a pilot study in chronic kidney disease.
My PhD project was on establishing a Multimarker strategy using seven novel biomarkers for early diagnosis of acute coronary syndrome. This research deals with novel markers such as Ischemia Modified Albumin, Heart Fatty Acid binding protein, Free fatty acids, Myeloperoxidase, Neopterin, sCD40 Ligand and Pregnancy associated plasma protein A, which can be applied in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) for the early diagnosis of the disease. This research deals with the ecNOS gene intron VNTR 4 polymorphisms and plasma nitric oxide levels in patients with acute coronary syndrome and control subjects and oxidative stress markers (Vitamin C, E, Protein thiol and reduced glutathione) in patients and control subjects. I had arrived at a group of four markers which can diagnose the onset of the disease much before the elevation of the standard markers such as Troponin I and CK-MB. This project also applied an innovative approach of using saliva in analysing novel biomarkers for early detection of ACS in this project. The analysis of salivary neopterin using HPLC was developed by me, I have received the Best Paper Award for my paper published in “Indian Journal of Clinical Biochemistry” for the year 2009 from Association of Clinical Biochemists of India.
Recently, I have developed a strong interest in pedagogical research, I have investigated how sensory memory links with long term memory to help retrieve the knowledge with special focus to exams and this technique has been found to be very effective.
I am interested in both life sciences and pedagogical research.
