Student spotlight: Navneet Kaur

Education is one of the four pillars of UNMC’s mission and our students are the lifeblood of that aspect of campus life.

In UNMC Today’s Student Spotlight, we get to know some of these students, who will become tomorrow’s health care professionals.

Today we meet:

• Name: Navneet Kaur
• Hometown: Kangra (Himachal Pradesh), India
• Program/Year: Third-year Ph.D. candidate, biochemistry and molecular biology

List three songs on your playlist

• “Scars to Your Beautiful,” Alessia Cara
• “A Thousand Miles,” Vanessa Carlton
• “Pani da Rang,” Ayushmann Khurrana

What sparked your interest in (your field of study)?
When I took molecular biology as an undergraduate, I learned about biomolecules and their specific roles in a cell. I was amazed to learn how organized and orchestrated a cellular system is, and how a disturbance in these cascades could lead to cancer. I wanted to dig more into these cellular cascades, how they are organized, and what cues could be controlled or turned on to stop a normal cell from becoming a cancer cell. I got lucky when I joined UNMC and the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences-Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Program. I landed in Dr. Jennifer Black’s lab, where I am working on unraveling a tumor suppressor protein’s signaling cascade in colon cancer.

Your favorite study snack is:

• Chocolate cakes
• Espresso beans

Your favorite app is:

• Quora
• In shorts

Three things people may not know about you:

• When I was in second grade, I wanted to be a pilot and fly airplanes. Although my fascination for biology took over and landed me in a research field, I would still love to pursue my childhood dream and fly a plane someday.
• Every night before going to bed, I read, or else I feel incomplete.
• Coming from such a culturally diverse country, I can speak and understand seven different languages and dialects.