Anjalee Jajoo

Hello everyone and welcome to my Senior Project blog! I’m Anjalee Jajoo, a senior at Basis Scottsdale. During our third trimester of senior year, Basis students are given the opportunity to explore our passions through an internship or research project in a real world setting. But, before I go into that, I guess you should know a little bit about me.

In my free time, I love binge watching (and re-binge watching) How I Met Your Mother, Grey’s Anatomy, and House of Cards. Academically, I’m obsessed with Biology and Anatomy - I got a little too excited when we were dissecting fetal pigs.

Growing up, my parents always fostered my desire to explore new places and cultures. Traveling has always been a huge part of my life and I've been fortunate enough to spend most of my summers and some winters abroad.

The two weeks I spent in Thailand was one of my favorite summer vacations. I loved everything about Thailand: exploring the beautiful temples and doing touristy things like seeing the emerald Buddha, drinking coconut water in the floating markets of Bangkok, and snorkeling in the crystal clear waters of Hong Island. As my love for traveling continues to blossom, so does my love for trying new cuisines. Thai food has always been a family favorite but unfortunately the Pad Thai at Osha Thai here in Scottsdale doesn't compare :(

This past summer though, my most in interesting travel was only a forty minute drive away to a local government clinic dedicated to pediatrics. I shadowed Dr. Narayanan, a pediatric neurologist who volunteers his time at the clinic, but works at a private practice which is in association with the T-Gen Institute. During this five-week summer internship, I was able to witness dozens of rare neurological diseases including: a girl with a mutation in her potassium channels, twins with the inability to produce dopamine, a boy with such an intense brain injury that he had to be transported into the clinic via stretcher.

So now, moving onto my Senior Research Project, and what I will be doing for the next ten weeks. Dr. Narayanan uses genomic sequencing to diagnose children who are suffering from rare neurological diseases, and help them come up with a more personalized treatment plan. During my time working with him at the Center for Rare Childhood Disorders (C4RCD), I will be learning about family exome sequencing, its benefits and shortcomings, and how to analyze the data of the sequencing to determine what is causing a patient's disorder. To find about more details about my project, you can find my project proposal linked on the right hand side.

As trimester two comes to a close, I am more and more excited to start this research project and share it with you! Please check in every week for more updates!

- Jajoo Out