Priya Rajasethupathy facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Priya Rajasethupathy
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| Priyamvada Rajasethupathy | |
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| Alma mater | Cornell University, BA, 2004 Columbia University, MD-PhD, 2013 |
| Awards | Searle Scholar, NIH Director's New Innovator Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Neuroscience |
| Institutions | Stanford University Rockefeller University |
| Thesis | Novel Small-RNA Mediated Gene Regulatory Mechanisms for Long-Term Memory (2012) |
| Doctoral advisor | Eric Kandel |
Priya Rajasethupathy is a brain scientist, also known as a neuroscientist. She is a professor at Rockefeller University, where she leads a lab that studies how our brains learn and remember things.
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Education and Early Discoveries
Priya Rajasethupathy grew up in Brockport, New York. She went to Cornell University and studied biology, preparing for medical school. For her college project, she found special molecules called aptamers. These molecules helped scientists understand how to treat epilepsy.
After college, she spent a year in India. There, she worked with people who had mental illnesses. She also did brain research at the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore.
Later, she went to Columbia University to earn a special degree called an MD-PhD. This degree combines medical training with scientific research. She worked with Eric Kandel, a scientist who won the Nobel Prize.
Learning from Sea Slugs
In her research, Priya studied California sea slugs (Aplysia californica). These slugs are a "model organism", meaning scientists study them to learn about other living things, like humans. She wanted to understand how tiny molecules, called small non-coding RNAs, help brain cells make and store memories.
She found a special tiny molecule called miR-124. This molecule is very common in the sea slug's brain. It helps with something called synaptic plasticity. This is the brain's ability to make connections between brain cells stronger or weaker over time.
Priya also discovered a new type of tiny molecule in the brain called piRNAs. Scientists used to think these molecules were only found in cells that create new life. But she found them in brain cells too! She learned that piRNAs can change how DNA works, which helps brain connections stay strong for a long time. This might explain how we keep long-term memories.
Brain Pathways and Memory
After getting her degrees, Priya worked with Karl Deisseroth, a scientist famous for a method called optogenetics. This method uses light to control brain cells.
Priya discovered a new pathway in the brain. This pathway goes from the front part of the brain (prefrontal cortex) to another part important for memory (hippocampus). This pathway is needed for us to remember things we've learned.
She used mice to study this. She used optogenetics to control and watch individual brain cells. She also used special microscopes to see living brain tissue. Her work helped her understand how genes guide brain activity when animals are doing tasks. Because of her amazing work, Science News named her one of their top young scientists in 2015.
Current Research
In 2017, Priya Rajasethupathy became a professor at Rockefeller University. She now leads her own lab, the Laboratory of Neural Dynamics & Cognition.
Her lab continues to study how memories are made, stored, and organized over time. They watch and control brain circuits while animals do tasks that need them to remember things. Her research is supported by a special award called the NIH Director's New Innovator Award. This award gives $2.5 million over five years to young scientists working on exciting, high-risk projects.
Awards and Honors
- Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award, 2012
- Top 10 Early Career Scientists, Science News, 2015
- NIH Director's New Innovator Award, 2017
- Searle Scholar, 2018
- Klingenstein-Simons Fellow, 2018
