Our day began early in the morning with breakfast at Inspiration. There was excitement in the air—today was the first day of our conference with Aravind, and many of us were presenting the projects we had spent all term developing. After breakfast, we walked over to the Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology (LAICO) and gathered in the conference room. Aravind faculty and students arrived, and it was time for the first presentations.
Our presenters for the day were Breggy, Maia, Geneva, Fiona, Abbi, and Mazie. Starting things off, Breggy presented his proposal for investigating the mechanisms behind apoptosis of neurons in patients with Xeroderma pigmentosum using induced pluripotent stem cells. This was followed by Maia’s presentation on the role of plasminogen and fibrinogen in the colonization of the ocular surface microbiome. Next, Geneva presented her project investigating the transition between L2 and L3 development in O. volvulus, the parasitic nematode that causes river blindness. Our first presenters set the bar high!
Next, we took a group picture (which we will hopefully get access to later!) and a coffee/snack break. We mingled with the Aravind students and physicians and discussed questions about our projects. Interestingly all of the coffee and tea are served with cream already.
Next, PhD candidate Fiona presented her most recent data for her project: Monoclonal Antibody Reduces Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Replication in a Murine Neonatal Ocular Infection Model. Then Abbi and Mazie presented on vitamin A deficiency (VAD). Abbi’s proposal focused on the role of mucins in VAD, and Mazie’s presentation focused on zinc and vitamin A supplementation to improve VAD in the setting of cirrhosis. That concluded our presentations for the day—everyone did such a great job!
After the conclusion of today’s presentations, we headed back to Inspiration for a short but well-deserved lunch break. We quickly returned to LAICO, this time to hear about research being conducted by Aravind students at a poster session. We were amazed at the complexity of their projects and the time and dedication they had put into their projects. We learned a lot about how to effectively communicate scientific findings and exciting new avenues of ophthalmic research.
After the poster session, we quickly planned and rehearsed our cultural presentation—Breggy doing a stand-up comedy set followed by all of us doing a Dartmouth first-year trips dance and the Cha-Cha Slide.
Then we took another coffee break! Abbi, Ray, and I (Maia) learned great advice from Fiona about graduate school!
Next, we went to the cultural presentation. The Aravind students put together an incredible show for us. First, we heard Carnatic singing from one of the Aravind students. Then, we were split up into teams with the Aravind students named after Marvel superheroes and played a picture trivia game called Connection. The Thor team won and received fabulous trophies for their efforts!
Then, we saw an incredible dance from four girls from a local Bharatanatyam dance group. We learned about the tradition of Bharatanatyam and Dr. Zegans even tried a few moves! Dawn and Dr. Zegans bestowed honors upon the dancers and then we took a group picture.
Finally, it was our turn to present. Breggy brought the laughs with his set while we followed up with the Trips dance to “Every time we touch” and ended with the Cha-Cha Slide.
After a long day of talks and performances, we rushed off to dinner so as not to miss our reservation. We ate dinner and Mark and Daniel provided much entertainment with their low-spice tolerances!
Then we went back to the hotel for blog writing and bedtime 🙂
The end. See you tomorrow!
– Arjun and Maia