Aishi Roychoudhury

Undergraduate Researcher @University of Rochester Medicine

Rochester, NY, US

Supporting the research goals of Dr. Ruchira Singh\'s lab to find treatments to retinal and neurodegenerative diseases such as Age-related Macular Degeneration and Batten (CLN3) DiseaseCurrent Project- Engaged in a single-blind study focused on characterizing retinal phenotypes in CLN3 disease. Using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) clinical imaging data, I quantitatively measure the thicknesses of (distance between) distinct retinal layers in CLN3 patients, carriers, and healthy controls. This project aims to identify phenotypic differences between CLN3 carriers and unaffected individuals—an understudied area—with the broader goal of understanding early or subclinical manifestations of the disease in carrier eyes- Manual measurements taken: Outer Nuclear Layer (ONL)- Retinal Pigment Epithelium Layer (RPE)External Limiting Membrane (ELM)- RPE RPE - Choroid- Automated measurements considered: Internal Limiting Membrane (ILM)- RPE Inner Plexiform Layer (IPL)+ Ganglion Cell Layer (GCL)Recent projects:(1) Evaluating if retinal degeneration phenotypes can be mimicked using human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal organoids from Batten’s Disease (CLN3) patients and comparing them to controls (organoids derived from wild-type stem cells)(2) Studying the impact of exosomes sourced from retinal pigment epithelium cells (after isolation) and how they could be a prospective drug therapy tool to address CLN3 disease(3) Image analysis of drusen-deposits in AMD (Age-related Macular Degeneration) patients to help pharmacologically target the central disease characteristics of AMD and drusen formation