Simantini Ghosh

Rivera-Escalera, F., Matousek, S. B., Ghosh, S., Olschowka, J. A., & O’Banion, M. K. (2014). Interleukin-1u03b2 mediated amyloid plaque clearance is independent of CCR2 signaling in the APP/PS1 mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Neurobiology of Disease, 69, 124-133. doi:10.1016/j.nbd.2014.05.018

Ghosh, S., Wu, M. D., Shaftel, S. S., Kyrkanides, S., Laferla, F. M., Olschowka, J. A., & O’banion, M. K. (2013). Sustained interleukin-1  overexpression exacerbates tau pathology despite reduced amyloid burden in an Alzheimer’s mouse model. Journal of Neuroscience, 33, 5053-5064. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.4361-12.2013

Matousek, S. B., Ghosh, S., Shaftel, S. S., Kyrkanides, S., Olschowka, J. A., & O’Banion, M. K. (2011). Chronic IL-1u03b2-mediated neuroinflammation mitigates amyloid pathology in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease without inducing overt neurodegeneration. Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology, 7, 156-164. doi:10.1007/s11481-011-9331-2

Current Research Interests:
My broad research interest lies in understanding how chronic stress affects the mind and the psychological, sociocultural, neurobiological and neuroinflammatory components that underlie stress responses. Research and approaches span disciplines and techniques, but the central theme is focused on understanding the sequelae of chronic stress and by extension, developing interventions and targets for stress related disorders.
Current Projects:

1. To study the role of domestic violence and intimate partner violence as a chronic stressor and study their effects on long term mental health among populations at risk
2. To model aspects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in rodents using novel psycho-social and physical stress paradigms, followed by analysis of their brains, focusing on neuron-glial interactions and neuroinflammatory responses
3. To develop 3D culture (brain-on-a-chip) models to study neuronal-glial interactions following application of various bio-mechanical as well as chemical stressors

Prior Areas of Training: 
Neuroinflammation in the context of neurodegenerative and neurocognitive disorders, particularly Alzheimer’s disease. Specifically, consequences of sustained overexpression of Interleukin-1 Beta, a master regulator of the brain’s Immune response in murine models of Alzheimer’s disease and tauopathy.

Repetitive Concussive traumatic Brain Injury rodent models as developed in the Laboratory of Dr. David Brody at Washington University (Currently at NINDS) and the effects of such injuries in the dendritic spine compartments of cortical neurons.

Testing the toxicity of human Alzheimer’s brain derived high molecular weight oligomeric fractions in rodents by performing steterotaxic delivery into the mouse hippocampus, followed by immunohistochemical and behavioral characterization.

We are always looking for bright and motivated students to join our research initiatives. Passionate and curious about research? Undergraduates, YIF or MLS, or even fellows are welcome. I usually look at three things while evaluating one’s application, other than your academic achievements.

• Research aptitude – If you have prior experience, great, even if you do not, and this would be your first exposure to research, I encourage you to apply still. You do need to have idea about basic statistical concepts, null hypothesis significance testing and research methods. For psychology majors I ask for SRMII as a prerequisite. Students from other programs can show me other coursework that they have taken at Ashoka or elsewhere (YIF/MLS/Fellows).
• Ethics and integrity- Research ethics and integrity are very important for me and everyone i my group. If you come to my research group, please know that I have a zero tolerance policy towards plagiarism and any tampering with raw data. This lies at the core of research. Good data is not necessarily sensational data. There will never be any compromise with methodological rigour.
• Interpersonal skills- Community engagement and knowledge of Hindi are essential if you’re interested in the psychology based projects. We can teach you good interviewing skills, but if you have a flair for talking to people from all socioeconomic and political backgrounds, it will help you manifold. Also, the environment in our group is very collegial, people collaborate rather than competing within the group. These qualities are very important for me to consider too.

So if our any aspect of our research excites you, and you would be interested to work with us, please write to me (simi@ashoka.edu.in) with a CV and a one page statement of interest. (what project(s) already described or what new project that aligns with the broader interest of my group would you liked to be involved in and why?)

If you are a prospective PhD applicant in Biology wanting to work with me, please send me an email much ahead of time, before you actually apply, because you will need to have a co-mentor from the Biology department. I need to check apriori with my colleagues in biology if a mutually agreeable situation can be reached.

We look forward to reading your applications!