Sana Bibi
Medical Genetics, College of Health Sciences
Making Sense of MS: Uncovering Genetic Factors of Multiple Sclerosis
Introduce yourself...
I'm Sana and I'm currently pursuing my masters degree in Anastassia Voronova's lab in medical genetics. In my spare time, I love to hang out with my family and friends.
What are you researching and what do you hope comes out of your research?
I am researching a gene that has been previously implicated in multiple sclerosis. I am specifically studying a mutant version of this gene in a mouse model during development. I hope that we gain more understanding of how this mutation may affect the brain beginning in early life.
How did presenting a Three Minute Thesis (3MT) help explain your research to the public?
The 3MT allowed me to reflect on my research and think about it from a different perspective. I have gained a better understanding of how to explain my research to others.
What inspires you to do research?
There are questions all around us and my interactions with others (in the academic and non-academic fields) inspires me to do research. There is so much to discover, learn, and improve in our world and I want to be a part of it all.
What are three keywords important to your 3MT?
Multiple Sclerosis, genetics, myelin
How does your research impact local, provincial, or global communities at large?
Multiple sclerosis affect many people in the world and I hope that by contributing to the knowledge pool, my research will serve a role in understanding this disease from a genetics' perspective.
If you had to dedicate your research to anyone from the past, present, or future—who would it be and why?
I would dedicate my research to the Voronova lab as I wouldn't be here today without their generous support at every step of the way.
3MT Image Description - The human mutant fractalkine gene (in red) is placed into a mouse.