In this episode of Research Renaissance, host Deborah Westphal dives into a fascinating conversation with Dr. Sudeshna Das, Associate Professor of Neurology at Mass General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Das is a pioneer in the field of biomedical informatics and a 2022 Toffler Scholar. Her work focuses on developing tools for multi-scale data integration from molecular to clinical data and applying data science approaches to study neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s disease.

Guest Introduction: Dr. Sudeshna Das

Dr. Sudeshna Das is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Mass General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She specializes in biomedical informatics and has a keen interest in developing tools for integrating diverse data sets, from molecular to clinical, to understand complex diseases like Alzheimer's. Dr. Das has a rich background in engineering and computational biology, making significant contributions to the field of drug discovery and neurodegenerative disease research.

Key Discussion Points

1. Career Motivation and Journey:
   • Dr. Das shares her early inspiration to cure cancer, driven by personal experiences with family members who had the disease.
   • Her transition from engineering to biomedical informatics and the unique challenges and opportunities she faced as a female engineer in India.
2. Biomedical Informatics and Data Integration:
   • Explanation of biomedical informatics, bioinformatics, and computational biology.
   • The importance of integrating large, high-dimensional data sets and real-world data for research.
   • Challenges in managing and analyzing big data and high-velocity data.
3. Alzheimer’s Disease Research:
   • The focus on understanding the roles of different cell types in Alzheimer's disease, particularly astrocytes, and their progression from protective to exhausted states.
   • The significance of recent findings on the role of T cells in Alzheimer’s disease and their potential as therapeutic targets.
4. Future of Alzheimer’s Research:
   • The promise of new technologies like spatial transcriptomics and artificial intelligence in advancing Alzheimer’s research.
   • The potential of AI tools, such as graph neural nets, to model disease pathways and predict effective treatments for individual patients.
   • The long-term goal of developing personalized treatments for Alzheimer’s disease.
5. Mentoring and Funding:
   • Dr. Das’s commitment to mentoring young researchers and her approach to guiding students through complex research landscapes.
   • The role of foundations like the Karen Toffler Charitable Trust in providing crucial funding for preliminary research.

Stay tuned for more episodes of Research Renaissance by subscribing to our podcast. For further information and updates, visit our website at TofflerTrust.org. We welcome your thoughts and suggestions, so feel free to reach out! Until then, onward and upward.

To learn more about the breakthroughs discussed in this episode and to support ongoing research, visit our website at tofflertrust.org.

Technical Podcast Support by Jon Keur at Wayfare Recording Co.