Washington College

[ login ]
Offices and Resources

Apply | Make a Gift

Welcome Event Gallery Parents

Class of 2013

Eshan Patel

Stories of Revolution

Eshan Patel

Eshan Patel '13 attended a high school twice the size of Washington College. So he appreciates the family atmosphere of the John S. Toll Science Center, where he and other young scientists are working closely with their professors to hone their skills in the lab, learn how to write scientific papers, and determine their career focus. His classes have ranged from health psychology and green chemistry to cell biology and biochemistry.

"Everyone's in Toll," says Eshan, a double major in biology and psychology considering a career in medicine. "Beyond the summer research program, you can do research in multiple departments throughout the school year. In a small close-knit community like this, you build such close relationships with your professors and you learn not only what aspects of science you like, but what's out there."

For clinical experience, Eshan spent the summer after his freshman year volunteering in a multidisciplinary ALS clinic at the Johns Hopkins Outpatient Center and shadowing several physicians at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. During his sophomore year in Professor Siemen's health psychology course, he was able to research the cardiovascular effects of nicotine and oral contraceptive use in adolescence. This summer, he is one of two students working in Professor Mindy Reynolds' biology research lab, investigating occupational levels of environmental toxins—specifically cobalt and nickel—on human lung cells.

"We know that exposure to these heavy metals can cause cancer individually," notes Eshan. "What happens when miners and steelworkers inhale these toxins together? Although we cannot control everything that enters our bodies, we can try to understand the mechanisms of toxicity to help scientists generate pharmacological intervention."

Eshan is continuing the work of Christine Lynch '11 who, under Professor Reynolds' supervision, conducted the pilot studies during two previous summers. "Christine clarified the protocols and determined that the elements caused cytotoxicity," Eshan explains, "so now we're looking at western blots for protein expression, which show how cells are dying when exposed to the metals. We're seeing high levels of reactive oxygen species, or oxidative stress."

Eshan is refining his lab technique, learning how to conduct cell culture without contaminating cells and how to perform the analytical technique known as western blotting. "This is not something I thought I'd be doing this early in my career," he notes. "Professor Reynolds is very engaging and I find myself striving to do more than I thought I could do."

The paper he is writing for class will likely be incorporated into a larger paper Dr. Reynolds is preparing for publication. "This is great practice for publishing papers and it's gratifying to be able to contribute to cancer research," says Eshan. As a premedical studies student, he has been working for the chair of the premedical committee, Dr. Kate Verville, since his freshman year. In addition to activities with his fraternity, Kappa Sigma, he also serves as president of the College's new club, the Health Occupations Students of America.

"My work this summer has opened up so many possibilities and it only confirms my passion for medicine," says Eshan. "A lot of the techniques I use in this lab I can apply to biochemistry, neuroscience and other lab sciences."

Contact

E-mail: epatel2@washcoll.edu

Campus Involvement

Publications

Patel, E., Lynch, C., Ruff, V., Reynolds, M. Co-exposure to nickel and cobalt enhances cytotoxicity and oxidative stress in human lung epithelial cells. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology (2012) http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0041008X11004558

Campus Event Appearances

Look for Eshan in these event photos.