Vishalini Venkatesan

Project Title: The Molecular Mechanisms of Cyst Expansion and Cardiovascular Diseases in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) • Planned and executed three end-to-end preclinical research projects on polycystic kidney disease, including development of transgenic mouse and in vitro models, drug testing, and validation using molecular and biochemical assays. • Coordinated with internal teams and external collaborators at Aarhus University and Kyungpook University as primary point of contact, e

Accepted into the Kansas PKD-RTCC Summer Student Enrichment Program to gain training in 3D microcyst assays using primary normal human kidney and polycystic kidney disease (PKD) cells.

Project Title: Unravelling the role of DNA Demethylation in Post-natal Heart Development • Executed hypothesis-seeking pilot studies on mice heart development in both mice and in vitro models to explore investigational research questions and assess experimental feasibility. • Acted as the primary liaison between three cross-disciplinary teams, including the animal facility (mice breeding), the MRI imaging unit (longitudinal cardiac monitoring in mice), and the microscopy team; organized regular meetings to

• Developed structured lesson plans and delivered 40+ hours of tutorials, simplifying core concepts in cardiovascular physiology, epigenetics, radiology, and molecular cardiology. • Supported student performance and evaluation by organizing revision sessions and assessments

Project Title: Assessment of Redox state in Peroxisome-deficient Cells • Conducted in vitro studies using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). • Optimized and established ELISA protocols for two biochemical assays, improving assay reliability. • Performed meta-analysis by analyzing 80+ publications and a comparative multi-omics database to extract gene expression related to peroxisomal disorders, supporting a review article

Project Title: Genotyping and Characterization of Cardiac-Specific Tet3 Knock-out Mice • Optimized and performed genotyping PCR, qPCR, and Sanger sequencing • Maintained and handled primary tissue cultures • Trained in adeno-associated virus (AAV) packaging and viral transduction • Performed Masson’s Trichrome staining for fibrosis quantification and immunofluorescence microscopy to visualize fibrosis-specific proteins

Project Title: Termination of Arrhythmia Using Global Photo-stimulation in Optogenetic Murine Hearts • Performed ex vivo Langendorff isolated heart perfusions in mice, including operation of optogenetic hardware, to generate experimental datasets. • Collected and compiled ex vivo data in collaboration with interdisciplinary teams (animal technicians, electrical engineers, and computational scientists), which were then used for simulation studies and resulted in 3 research articles.

Project Title: Generation of Cell-Permeant, Pluripotency-associated Reprogramming Recombinant Protein – GLIS1 • Maintained mammalian cell culture. • Performed molecular biology and protein expression studies, including gene cloning, agarose gel electrophoresis, primer design, bacterial transformation, plasmid DNA extraction, Western blotting, and protein purification via immobilized metal ion affinity chromatography (IMAC). • Reviewed 50+ publications in a collaborative setting, contributing to discussions