Sareena Garg

Sareena is an incoming student at University of California Berkeley. Prior to graduating she spent most of her time working on robotics and research. Sareena is excited to explore deeper into the world of biotechnology and hopes to one day make a positive impact on the world.

Investigate the Link Between the hMLH1 Gene and Microsatellite Instability in Colorectal Carcinoma

Colorectal carcinoma is one of the most common cancers in the world, with the primary causal factor being genomic instability. Microsatellite Instability is an indicator of an increased tendency of genome alterations which may be caused by defective mismatch repair pathway. hMLH1, is a critical mismatch repair pathways gene known to be mutated in Colorectal Carcinoma. Aim of the study was to better understand the relationship between hMLH1 and Microsatellite Instability in Colorectal Carcinoma using publicly available datasets. An in silco study was performed using a dataset retrieved from cBioportal and the Cancer genome atlas. The results demonstrated that low hMLH1 expression had significantly higher MSI as expected. However, it interestingly showed an inverse association between hMLH1 and fraction of genome alterations. This possibly highlights the complexity of the link between hMLH1 and Microsatellite Instability.

Age-Dependent Effects of Binge Drinking on Anxiety and Expression of mGlu1

Previous studies have established the negative long term effects of binge-drinking during adolescence on proper brain development and anxiety, including reductions in the size of the prefrontal cortex and behavioral delays. However, little work has been done to investigate the effects of binge-drinking at maturity or in old age. Using a Drinking in the Dark (DID) model of binge drinking, , we investigated the potential age-dependent differences in anxiety-like behaviors following binge-drinking in 6 (mature) and 18 (old-age) month old mice Following drinking, mice were tested with common anxiety-inducing behavioral assays including the Forced Swim Test (FST), Elevated Plus Maze (EPM), and Novel Object Encounter (NOE). Alongside this, the expression of metabotropic glutamate receptor ,mGlu1, within the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) and Hippocampus was quantified using immunohistology. The study found significant differences between binge-drinking and non-drinking mice in every assay, and it was determined that mGlu1 expression was significantly higher in the mature drinkers than in the old drinkers. Despite this, no significant behavioral differences existed between the mature and old age binge-drinkers, suggesting that levels of anxiety following binge-drinking are not age-dependent.

Robotics

Sareena was a member of her highschool robotics team for all four years she attended Notre Dame. She was an active member of The Janksters which led to her recieving the leadership positions of Rookie Liasion, Lab Manager, Swerve Lead, Driver, Drive Coach, and Electrical Lead.

An explanation of FRC

The FIRST Robotics Competition is an annual event where teams of students design, build, and program robots to compete in challenging games and tasks. Read more by clicking the icon.

2020-2022

Students were unable to meet in person and therefore a robot was unable to be built in 2020. The 2021-2022 FRC challenge involved robots collecting and shooting cargo, climbing a hangar, and spinning a control panel to score points in a game field.

2022-2023

The 2022-2023 FIRST Robotics Competition challenge, "CHARGED UP", required robots to score game pieces into grids and balance on a charging station to earn points, all while defending themselves from other bots.

2023-2024

The 2023-2024 FIRST Robotics Competition challenge, "RAPID REACT", involves robots scoring game pieces into various angled goals and hanging on a chain to accumulate points.

Video

A video showing the process of build season and videos created by The Janksters while I was a member.

Awards

Awards I recieved over the course of the four years on the team.

Journalism

As a hobby I wrote for my high school's newspaper. I then recieved a writing internship from the department of communications at Notre Dame. A few examples of my work are below.

Madam Vice President

Team 1967 Closes Out 2022 Competition Season at Silicon Valley Regional

ND Volleyball Hosts Dig Pink Event

What have ND Students Been Doing over the Summer?

In the Classroom: Studying Oedipus the King

Ben Ben the Campus Cat

Get in touch

Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.