Ph.D. Candidate, Molecular & Cellular Neuroscience
MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
B.S., Biomedical Engineering, Drexel University
M.S., Biomedical Engineering, Drexel University
E-mail: d_roy <at> mit <dot> edu
As a freshman at Drexel University, Dheeraj became involved in several educational outreach and mentoring programs around Philadelphia. While pursuing a dual degree program (B.S./M.S.) in engineering, he mentored West Philadelphia high school students as part of a SAT test preparation program and subsequently assisted in the college application process (Guiding Youth to Careers). As an undergraduate, Dheeraj became interested in research and worked in labs affiliated with the Mechanical Engineering and Biological Sciences departments at Drexel. Along with research, he participated in the Lindy Scholars program where volunteers mentored middle school students to help improve mathematics and literacy skills. On the weekends, he was an active member of the Red Cross disaster relief team and the National Multiple Sclerosis Delaware Valley chapter. Currently, Dheeraj is pursuing a doctoral program in neuroscience at MIT and hopes to remain active in new educational initiatives.
Related Websites:
Guiding Youth to Careers program
URL: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Guiding-Youth-to-Careers/268505730172?sk=info
URL: http://www.drexel.edu/lindycenter/students/leadership-opportunities/lindy-scholars/
Red Cross Disaster Relief volunteer program
URL: http://www.redcross.org/pa/philadelphia/local-services/emergency-services
National Multiple Sclerosis Delaware Valley chapter
URL: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/chapters/pae/volunteer/index.aspx
Selected publications:
Johnson M*, Tsai L*, Roy D, Valenzuela D, Mosley C, Magklara A, Lomvardas S, Liberles S, Barnea G. (2012) TAAR expressing neurons project to discrete glomeruli and constitute an olfactory subsystem. PNAS, 109(33): 13410-13415. View PDF.
Bowen J, Hwang D, Bai X, Roy D, Spiliotis E. (2011) Septin GTPases spatially guide microtubule organization and plus end dynamics in polarizing epithelia. Journal of Cell Biology, 194(2): 187-197. View PDF.
Cheang U*, Roy D*, Lee J, Kim M. (2010) Fabrication and magnetic control of bacteria-inspired robotic microswimmers. Applied Physics Letters, 97: 213704. View PDF.
