The ASPIRE Path in Molecular Medicine

Pranoti Pradhan, is a second year Ph.D. Epidemiology student in Dr. Wei Zheng’s research group and a Russell G. Hamilton Scholar, focussing on the implication of nutrition, physical wellness, health disparities, and genetic biomarkers on breast cancer. Originally from Fishers, Indiana, she completed her BA in Biochemistry and her MA in Bioethics in 2017 from Case Western Reserve University. Afterwards, she pursued an MPH in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Cornell University, graduating in 2018. Prior to coming to Vanderbilt, she worked at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, studying the association of cancer mutations and clinical characteristics on breast cancer. Currently she is focusing on two studies: (1) analyzing the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and its effect on estrogen metabolites and estrogen hormone concentrations to understand how concentration levels affect breast cancer outcome (2) analyzing whether or not individuals who have been consuming ginseng are having improved clinical outcomes for both cancer and non-cancer related diseases.