Roy Rao

Undergrad Researcher - Shelton Lab @Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Nashville, TN, US

Led project studying the role of shear stress on lymphatic endothelial cells (LECs) in kidney disease and edema. Operated and optimized Ibidi pump system to expose LECs to varying levels of shear stress, extracted RNA from cells using TRIzol protocol, synthesized cDNA from RNA, and used qRT-PCR to evaluate changes in expression of VE-cadherin, Zo-1, PECAM-1, VCAM-1, ICAM-1, E-selectin, Vwf, and NKCC1, among other genes. Poster presentations at Southeastern Medical Scientist Symposium and Vanderbilt University Research Fair.Co-author of lymphatics paper investigating the role of sodium in kidney collecting vessel dynamics published in the AHA’s Circulation Research journal. Studied Ednrb among other genes via qRT-PCR; analyzed results with collaborators.