Ashwin Bhandiwad

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Education

Professional MS, Marine Biology (As part of Three Seas/East West Program)

Northeastern University, Boston, MA 2009

Research project: Arm regeneration rates in the comet star, Linckia columbiae

 

BA, Biophysics, 2007

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

 

Research Experience

Research Associate, Duke University, June 2009 – present

PI: Dr. Sonke Johnsen

• Studied the effects of changes in salinity and temperature on tissue transparency in the tail muscle of the daggerblade grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio (Manuscript in progress)
• Used optical sensors to detect changes in light transmittance intensity
• Used confocal microscopy to visualize changes in P. pugio muscle fibers

 

Research Assistant, Northeastern University, September 2008 – November 2008

PI: Dr. Jeremy Long

• Used terrestrial and aquatic survey techniques to quantify the effects of human trampling on recruitment and growth of benthic flora and fauna
• Helped set up long term monitoring project in Acadia National Park, ME

 

Undergraduate researcher, Telethon Institute for Genetics and Medicine, Naples, Italy, 2005

PI: Dr. Alberto Auricchio

• Used PCR to create a chimeric gene product to be used in gene therapy against Mucopolysaccharidosis VI.

• Microtomed and analyzed liver, kidney, muscle, and heart tissue of sacrificed mice

 

Undergraduate researcher, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical Center, 2004-2007

PI: Dr. David Johns

• Helped review methods of gene therapy techniques using adeno-associated viruses
• Cultured multiple cell types and harvested viruses for the Gene Therapy Vector Core

 

Relevant Work Experience

Penguin Husbandry Volunteer, New England Aquarium, Boston, MA January 2008 – September 2008

• Fed and performed day-to-day upkeep of African, Rockhopper, and Little Blue penguins

 

Skills

• AAUS certified scientific diver, NAUI certified advanced diver, NAUI Nitrox diver
• In addition to skills mentioned above, familiar with coral reef fish and invertebrate taxonomy, CTD techniques, Western blotting and other molecular techniques
• Familiarity and experience with terrestrial and underwater photography and videography
• Experience with Jmol, Spectrasuite, Adobe photoshop, ImageJ, and JMP statistical software

 

Presentations

• Now you see it, now you don’t: The effects of salinity and temperature on the transparency of the ghost shrimp. Annual Meeting of Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, January 2010.