Divya Mehra
PhD (Human Physiology)
Thesis Title: Cardiac Ryanodine Receptor Inhibitors as Therapy for Calcium Store Overload Induced Arrhythmias
Divya Mehra comes from what she calls "the land of aspirations and dreams in every youth to make them worthy of success: India". In her last year of a Bachelor of Pharmacy Degree at the University of Mumbai, it was clear to her that she had a keen interest in pharmaceutical research. However, after completing her Pharmacy degree in May 2008, she joined Cognizant Technologies Solutions as a Junior Clinical Data Analyst on an oncology phase III trial project from Pfizer.
While working on the Pfizer project she proactively contacted about 150 researchers across the globe in pharmaceutical sectors inquiring about projects and positions.
I believe that at the University of Newcastle, biomedical research is definitely of world class standard. It is completely student oriented and nurtures their research skills with full provision of infrastructure, training, conference travel support and funding.
Early in 2009, Associate Professor Derek Laver published a new blocking mechanism for Flecainide, a marketed anti arrhythmic drug. Divya made contact with the University of Newcastle and was successful in her application. Divya has been able to seize the opportunity to carry on with the research on Flecainide as her PhD project.
The gap between completing Pharmacy and starting research gave her the chance to publish work at the University of Mumbai, gain industrial experience at Cognizant and time to plan a fresh beginning in a new country.
In her own words the gap years gave Divya "an opportunity to look at the School of Biomedical Science and Pharmacy, profile their research calibre and also read about my new advisor. It was a big decision for me to move to Australia as most of my colleagues in Pharmacy elected to pursue research in USA".
Divya goes on to say "as a PhD candidate I believe that at the University of Newcastle, biomedical research is definitely of world class standard. It is completely student oriented and nurtures their research skills with full provision of infrastructure, training, conference travel support and funding. I couldn't have asked for a better University to see my dream take wings".