Shashank Nadimpalli

Motivated student currently working towards degree in Biology with Minors in Chemistry, Psychology, and Pre-Medical Sciences. Adept at prepping resources, equipment, and materials for research. Extensive background in investigating biological research. Professional researcher with strong analytical and statistical skills, adept at designing and conducting experiments. Proven ability to collaborate effectively within team environments and adapt to changing project needs. Skilled in data analysis, literature review, and report writing. Known for reliability and results-driven approach.

• Assessing the effect of medication administration in normothermic liver machine perfusion on discarded/clinical-use human livers, Normothermic liver machine perfusion would help surgical team's sustainability.
• Assessing liver and kidney donor graft viability based on graft-derived cell free DNA, VCU Department of Surgery, Hume-Lee Transplant Center.

• Dean’s List in College of Humanities and Sciences
• Received Commended Scholar in PSAT
• Top student in EMT class
• Virginia Research State FLL
• Numerous Chess Awards in K-16 categories
• Distinguished Scholar from AP exams
• Scholastic Bowl 2021
• Top 3 in Regional Varsity Debate

• Cell Culture Research, Worked on bringing together cell cultures and fulfilling an important biological experiment to slow down the progress of neurodegenerative diseases.
• Mealworm ISS - Higher Orbits, Worked on sending mealworms to the international space station and finding the nutritional value of these mealworms. A research paper was made and sent to Higher Orbits Staff at Orbital ATK.
• Comparison of the efficacy of a Laryngeal Mask Airway and Laryngeal Tube in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrests, Worked on a paper comparing the effects of the Laryngeal Mask Airway and a Laryngeal Tube on achieving Return of Spontaneous Circulation in EMS Responses.
• Effect of Genetic Differences on Post-Operative Care on Spleen Surgery, Worked on a paper describing the effects of various genetic differences in patients and the subsequent effect on the regeneration of the white pulp of the spleen after a splenectomy. Submission into MDPI International Journal of Translational Medicine.
• FTY720 as a potential drug treatment for activating pro-survival pathways in NPC Disease Models, Researching to see if FTY720 could be a potential drug treatment in order to increase viability and pro-survival proteins in vitro as an alternate treatment to current techniques in Niemann-Pick Disease. Accepted into 2025 NCUR Conference.
• Role of Sphingolipids on apoptosis mediated by Caspase-3/9 signaling pathway, Working on Literature Review describing the effects of various types of sphingolipids on the activation of key regulators in caspase-mediated programmed cell death.

PROJECTS LED PROJECTS CONTRIBUTED TO AWARDS

• Cell Culture Research - Academies of Loudoun
  Conducted cell culture experiments aimed at slowing progression of neurodegenerative diseases.
• Mealworm ISS Project - Higher Orbits / Orbital ATK
  Helped design and analyze an experiment sending mealworms to the ISS to assess nutritional value; co-authored resulting research report.
• Airway Management in OHCA - VCU
  Contributed to a study comparing Laryngeal Mask Airway vs. Laryngeal Tube effectiveness for ROSC in prehospital cardiac arrests.
• Genetic Determinants of Post-Splenectomy Recovery - VCU
  Co-authored a study analyzing how genetic variation influences white pulp regeneration after splenectomy; submitted to International Journal of Translational Medicine (MDPI).
• FTY720 as a Pro-Survival Therapy in NPC - VCU
  Investigated FTY720 as a potential treatment to enhance cell viability and pro-survival signaling in NPC disease models. Accepted for presentation at NCUR 2025.
• Sphingolipids & Caspase-3/9–Mediated Apoptosis - VCU
  Authoring a literature review on sphingolipid regulation of caspase-driven programmed cell death.
• Normothermic Liver Machine Perfusion - VCU Hume-Lee Transplant Center
  Supported studies on medication administration during ex-vivo perfusion and its implications for graft sustainability; co-author on submission to Liver Transplantation.
• Cell-Free DNA for Organ Graft Viability - VCU Hume-Lee Transplant Center
  Assisted research evaluating liver and kidney donor graft viability using graft-derived cfDNA.
• Best Abstract – Southeastern Regional Lipid Conference (Hydroxylated Sphingolipids in NPC).
• 3MT Competition Presenter (Undergraduate Division).
• Cayman Biomedical Sciences Undergraduate Fellowship - $5,000 award.
• Summer Undergraduate Fellowship - $2,500 award.
• Presidential Volunteer Service Award (Gold)
• Baldacci Experimental Learning Fund Award - $5,000 award.

EMT - Certified Emergency Medical Technician