Grant Category:	Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Program
Field of Specialization:	Biology/Bio-Chemistry
Name:	Mr. Bogdan Conrad
Official Address:	Saint Olaf College, Minnesota
Indian Host Institution:	Schieffelin Institute of Health Research & Leprosy Center, Karigiri, Vellore, Tamil Nadu
Duration of Grant & Start Date :	Duration: 9 months August 2011

Brief Bio:

Bogdan Conrad was born in Fuerstenfeldbruck, Germany. He completed high school with specialties in math and biology, and he obtained his Abitur from the Obermenzinger Gymnasium in 2006. After completing a civil service year with the German Red Cross, he traveled overseas to attend St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Here, he used his bilingual background to work for the German department and the world language center before exploring his medical interests as a volunteer E.M.T. on campus. As a biology and chemistry major, Mr. Conrad soon decided to explore the world of biomedical research. His research project during the summer of 2009 in the radiation oncology department at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine was a huge success. The project focused on the interaction of the DNA damage pathway and the development of colon cancer to identify new possible treatment methods, and the results were later published in the Nature publishing group's journal Oncogene. The death of Mr. Conrad's father, who had been suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's, and his sister's case of Autism fueled his interest in neuroscience. As a culmination of his decision to add a neuroscience concentration to his double major, he began an independent research project with Professor Demas at St. Olaf College analyzing the human pupillary reflex. After his college graduation in 2011, he plans to conduct leprosy research at the Schieffelin Institute of Health Research & Leprosy Center, Karigiri, India. He plans to then complete a M.D./Ph.D. program before conducting research in his field of interest in tissue regeneration. As a Fulbright-Nehru fellow Mr. Connrad is affiliated with the Schieffelin Institute of Health Research & Leprosy Center, Karigiri, Tamil Nadu, India. His project will include joining a lab researching biochemical and immune response aspects of leprosy. He will also be working together with the clinic's outreach programs and Dr. Valsa Augustine on reducing the stigma around leprosy which is preventing patients from getting adequate care.