Neha Sharda

Research Intern at the University of Maryland School of Medicine

About the Research Internship

Starting in June 2018, I have had the privilege of interning at the University of Maryland School of Medicine doing research on colorectal cancer. In the Spring 2021 semester, I had the opportunity to continue this research virtually by analyzing the data, creating figures, and writing sections of the manuscript. In particular, andrographolide and melatonin were two compounds analyzed in order to see if their combinatorial effects have an effect in inducing colorectal cancer death. Our preliminary findings have indicated that the combination of these compounds does decrease colorectal cancer at lower concentrations. This semester, I have been the first author of two publications. Since 2018, I have also presented at two different conferences and have one additional publication on these topics.

Read More

Publications/Presentations

PubMed •

Synergistic potential of dual andrographolide and melatonin targeting of metastatic colon cancer cells: Using the Chou-Talalay combination index method

Through this publication, we were able to use a quantitative method in order to depict the synergistic effect that andrographolide and melatonin have on the reduction of colorectal cancer cells. I was one of the first authors of this publication and was responsible for creating/editing the figures in the manuscript as well as writing and editing different sections of the publication.
PubMed •

Identification of Cross Talk between FoxM1 and RASSF1A as a Therapeutic Target of Colon Cancer

This was the first publication I was a part of. I had a greater role in the data collection process due to the internship being in person. The findings related to the connection between FoxM1 and RASSF1A (oncogenes vs. tumor-suppressing genes) are vital in understanding the pathway of colon cancer and in building on the potential treatments of colon cancer (andrographolide and melatonin) based on this.

Impact of Andrographolide and Melatonin Combinatorial Drug Therapy on Metastatic Colon Cancer Cells and Organoids

This article is currently in the submission process and focuses on the role of combinatorial therapy of AGP and melatonin on metastatic colon cancer cells. I was privileged to be the first author of this article and was responsible for the generation of data in previous semesters, along with analysis of data and writing sections of the manuscript in the Spring 2021 semester. Through this article, the main finding was that the combined therapy of AGP and melatonin did have an impact on reducing colorectal cancer at decreased concentrations of the compounds.

Combinatorial Therapy Presentation

I had the privilege of presenting on the combinatorial drug therapy effects in a virtual conference hosted by the University of Maryland School of Medicine to over 100 research scientists. This presentation was linked to the manuscript that was published later on colorectal cancer death due to the combinatorial effects of AGP and melatonin. Through this presentation, not only was I able to get valuable feedback on my presentation but also learned a lot about other types of cancer such as lung cancer by viewing the presentations of others.

FOXM1 and RASSF1A Presentation

This presentation was linked to the publication related to the cross talk between FoxM1 and RASSF1A. I had the opportunity to present on this topic at an international conference in October of 2019. Not only was I able to present on the relationship between the increase in FoxM1 and decrease in RASSF1A expression which is characteristic of colorectal cancer, but I also learned a lot about research being done all over the world both on cells and animal models.