25.10.2022 Kaustubh Kishor Jadhav: “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t”

Kaustubh Kishor Jadhav: “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t”

I am Kaustubh Kishor Jadhav, a Doctoral Researcher from India who is now a part of the Neuro-Innovation PhD Programme at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio. My academics involve a bachelor’s degree (in Biotechnology) from Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University in India, followed by a master’s (in Molecular Biology of the Cell) from the University of Milan in Italy. My scientific quest started with an aim to explore remedies for incurable diseases by understanding the human mechanisms and working towards finding preventive strategies rather than focusing on cures. During my bachelor’s, the realization that the basis of the human mechanism is the cells and their molecules encouraged me to study Molecular Biology in Italy. Later, I worked as a Research Assistant (in India) and was introduced to the field of Neuroscience and Mental Health. The ‘XXXVII Annual Meeting of Indian Academy of Neurosciences’ (New Delhi, India), where the theme was ‘Neuron to behavior’, proved to be a turning point. After attending the conference, I realized that neuroscience is vast and even though we have known neuronal diseases for decades, we still haven’t been successful to develop a cure or discover preventive measures to avoid their occurrence. After having conversations with some of the speakers, I also recognized that mental health research, in India, was still a naive field. Most people here were unaware of mental health disorders and how they can affect the overall well-being of an individual. This triggered me towards opting for research in this field. Then with the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health problems in school-going children and adolescents suddenly came to light as a result of the lockdown. As Matt Haig says

“Mental health problems do not define who you are. They are something you experience. You can walk in the rain and feel the rain, but you are not the rain”

All these factors were a driving force for me to undertake this project at the University of Eastern Finland focusing on biomarkers for mental health dysfunction in adolescents. I believed that my academics and research experience will be a perfect combination of different skills and expertise required for the fulfillment of the exciting research idea.

Now, I am working under the supervision of Prof. Katja Kanninen, in the ‘Neurobiology of Disease’ group, at the A. I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences in Kuopio. The main goal of our research group is to understand the mechanisms that lead to neurodegenerative and mental health diseases as well as to identify novel therapeutic approaches for risk prediction. My project titled ‘Evaluation of the value of new biomarkers for mental health dysfunction in adolescents’ is focused to determine if newly identified, plasma-based susceptibility biomarkers for mental dysfunction in adolescents can be valuable for early diagnosis and risk identification. Additionally, I am interested to know if these potential candidates have some commercial value and apprehend their acceptability concerning end-users.

Aims of the project:

The project is aimed at determining the utility and validity of novel biomarkers discovered by multi-omics approaches for the early identification of at-risk individuals and possible preventative measures. Secondly, at exploring the economic aspect to find out the acceptability of these candidate biomarkers from the perspective of pharmacy companies, psychologists, and parents of adolescent children. Additionally, the focus is to understand if the general population is aware of newly developing biomarker technologies and if they are willing to use them for risk prediction for their adolescents if available for clinical use.

Proposed Research Strategy:

To validate the significance of the potential top candidates, I intend to perform in vivo animal models-based and cell culture studies for understanding the functionality of these biomarkers. This will help to uncover the cellular pathways in which these molecules are involved and discover their functions in the brain, blood, and human blood brain barriers. This will also involve the use of some bioinformatic tools along with wet-lab experiments. The commercialization will be studied by conducting well-designed interviews/online surveys followed by statistical analysis.

In conclusion, this project aims to discover biomarkers that could be used as a tool for early diagnosis and risk predictions and have a thorough understanding of the market to facilitate and ease the commercialization of these biomarkers.