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Sai Srinivas Panapakkam Giridharan, Ph.D. |
During May’s convocation ceremony, Sai Srinivas Panapakkam Giridharan, Ph.D., received the Thomas Jefferson Ingenuity Award, given each cycle to a graduate student for their ingenuity in their doctoral research.
Graduate Posts spoke to Dr. Giridharan, currently at the University of Michigan, about the award and his experiences at UNMC.
What did it mean to you to receive the Thomas Jefferson Ingenuity Award?
When I joined UNMC, two of my seniors, Dr. Marko Jovic and Dr. Mahak Sharma, got the Thomas Jefferson Ingenuity Award in the consecutive years, and they have gone on to successful research careers. I always questioned whether research is the right path for me, and this award makes me feel comfortable that it could be so. Recognition in any field is the key motivation factor to a successful career.
I also like that it is named an “ingenuity” award. Whenever I used to make mistakes, my father used to ask me if I have any sense. I had no way of proving it then. Now, I hope this award would answer his question.
Are there mentors you would like to recognize at UNMC as having impacted your research and career?
Of course, Steve Caplan, Ph.D., and Naava Naslavksy, Ph.D., played an important role in shaping my scientific career.
During my school days I hated biology, and I joined a bachelor’s in biotechnology program by mistake. Somehow during my bachelor’s, I got interested in doing research, but it was too late. With little research experience and not-so-good GRE and subject GRE scores, I got accepted at UNMC. Now you can understand how much hard work my mentors have done to get me to this award level.
Regarding my research training, apart from an intensive and friendly training from mentors, my seniors trained me, too. Big thanks to Juliyati Rahajeng, for training me and helping me during my initial years. Regarding my writing skills: If you have a mentor who writes Lablit and has the time to help you, GRE scores don’t matter.
Overall, I would like to use the old native proverb. My Ph.D. experience was like a train journey: When the train was safe, why should one carry the luggage on one’s head? I just enjoyed the journey.
What are you researching now in Ann Arbor? What is exciting to you about your current project?
Until last week, my answer would have been different. After receiving my AHA post-doctoral fellowship last Friday, my project has taken a different direction. I would focus on the neuroprotective effects of phosphatidyl inositol (3,5) bis phosphate and phophatidyl inositiol 5 phosphate that would be beneficial for stroke treatment. The exciting part is that I am going to work with a new model system, primary neurons.
Why is a “fearlessness” and “willingness to think outside the box” important for a great researcher?
Fear at any time in life is due to attachment. In science, fear comes due to attachment to one’s hypothesis. Once you are attached to some hypothesis, it will prevent you from thinking outside of the box. Nature does not function based on our hypothesis, and if you really want to understand nature, you have to go beyond your hypothesis.
Interesting things that happened during my time at UNMC:
- My name has been a big concern in terms of publications. Thanks to Steve for giving me a “pubmed name,” Giridharan SS, after a big discussion on all the permutation and combination possibilities of my name.
- I like singing classical Carnatic music, and the place I sing is the centrifuge room. First of all, having a base voice, the note of centrifuge noise was my basal note. Next, that room in the department is always locked — so I could stop singing before anyone came in. Steve and my lab members will not be amazed as to why I was so interested in purifying proteins.
- When I first came to Omaha, I had two roommates, both with long names: Sai Praneeth Bathena Reddy and Bala Vamsi Krishna Karturi. Whenever there was a long name on a letter, the postman would drop the mail in our box.
- I had the same roommate, Sai Praneeth for all five years, and we graduated at the same time. Some people consider this as a bigger achievement than getting this award. Since we both have ‘Sai’ in our first name and that is the only easy part, we had a lot of confusion when we were addressed by friends.