As a researcher, I work closely with a variety of fascinating patients at the Neurosciences Critical Care Unit, the Brain Rescue Unit, and the Out Patient Clinic. I am also a biochemist studying neurodegeneration at the molecular level. Throughout my education, I have attempted to cultivate my inner artist despite pursuing a science-heavy curriculum, in which art is usually under emphasized or neglected altogether. Using art, I wish to raise public awareness of our society’s mental health issues.
C9orf72: what lies within
C9orf72: what lies within
Mixed Media
This self portrait was created using an MRI image of the artist's brain and head, which were 3D rendered in the program OsiriX. The DNA (silver) and RNA (pink) were created in Blender. The crystal structure of the RNA polymerase II (orange) was imported from the protein data bank and manipulated using Blender. the image of the neuronal nuclei was obtained via confocal microscopy. The blue is Hoescht dye, which stains for nucelar DNA. The pink dots in the background are RNA that were visualized by Cy5-labeled RNA FISH probes against the repeat RNAs that are transcribed (observed in the foreground). The green is the protein, nucleolin, that was stained with nucleolin-specific primary antibodies and Alexa 488 tagged secondary antibodies. Yellow represents the co-localization of hexanucleotide repeat RNA with nucleolin (Cy5 + Alexa488). All of the images were compiled and edited in the software GIMP.