CV Annesha Sil
WORK EXPERIENCE:
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE:
September 2013-January 2014: Honorary Research Worker, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London
Worked under Dr. Sagnik Bhattacharyya, Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry working on results from my Masters thesis to further study sub-divisions of self-transcendence categories.
March 2013-August 2013: Masters Dissertation Student, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London
Completed my Masters dissertation under the supervision of Dr. Sagnik Bhattacharyya, which was titled, “Self-Transcendence and Self-Directedness Related to the Symptomatic and Neural Effects of THC in Healthy Individuals”.
Skills Learnt: fMRI analysis using xBAM v4.0, statistical analysis using SPSS.
January 2012-June 2012: B.Tech Dissertation Student, IPB ENSTBB(Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Technologie des Biomolécules de Bordeaux), University of Bordeaux II
My final semester undergraduate research project was titled, “Test of a Positive Selection Vector for the secretion of Recombinant Protein in E.coli via SRP and TAT Type II secretion mechanism” under the supervision of Dr. Wilfrid Dieryck, Assistant Professor, ENSTBB.
Techniques learnt: Plasmid DNA extraction, purification, PCR, agarose gel electrophoresis, restriction digestion, ligation, colony PCR
INTERNSHIPS:
May-July 2011: Internship, Clinical Neuroscience and Neuropsychology Departments, Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkata, India
Skills learnt: Learnt about fronto-temporal dementias associated with Alzheimers’, Lewy Body Dementia, Parkinson’s Plus syndromes by interacting with patients diagnosed with the same.
May-July 2010: Internship, Serology, Histopathology and Infection Control Departments, Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, Kolkata, India
Techniques learnt: ELISA, using the nephelometer, studying biopsy tissues, Real-Time PCR. We worked with nearly 100 patient samples on a daily basis testing for syphilis, HIV, HbsAg, HBV, Tuberculosis etc. Also, worked on standardization of a Real-Time PCR protocol for the detection of tuberculosis using Seegene Anyplex™ Real-Time Mtb/Ntm Detection and completed a project on the same under Dr. Ujjayini, Head of Serology Department at Apollo Gleneagles, Kolkata.
OTHER WORK EXPERIENCE:
September 2012-January 2014: Student Ambassador, King’s College London
Responsibilities: Represented King’s at various Open Days, including the post-graduate research evening on 9th October, 2013 talking to prospective students and leading campus tours of the IoP. Also worked at the Psychiatric Research Trust alumni event at the IoP and the Francis Crick Institute seminar titled, “The Brain: Understanding Complexity” which involved leading neuroscientists from all over the UK.
September 2013-December 2013: Student Telephone Fundraiser, King’s College London
Student Telephone Fundraiser for the “World Questions, King’s Answers” campaign raising money for the King’s Scholarship Fund and a variety of other causes including neuroscience and mental health.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING:
March 2014-March 2017: PhD student in Neuroscience at the University of Cagliari, Italy
Department of Neuropsychopharmacology
Primary Supervisor: Prof. Gaetano Di Chiara, Secondary Supervisors: Dr. Daniele Lecca, Dr. Augusta Pisanu
Skills learnt: Animal handling, self-administration with rats
September 2012-September 2013: MSc Neuroscience in Addiction Biology, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London
Modules Covered: Basic neurobiology, neurogenetics and neuroimmunology, neurodegenerative disorders, psychiatric disorders, neuroimaging, tractography, Optional Module in Addiction Biology
- Graduated with an overall score of Distinction( above 70%) and a specialization in Addiction Biology
May 2008-May 2012: Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology, VIT University, Vellore, India
Modules Covered: Cell biology, molecular biology, immunology, microbiology, behavioural science, biostatistics, genetics, animal/plant biotechnology, industrial biotechnology and 40 other subjects over 8 semesters.
- Graduated with a CGPA of 9.0 on a scale of 10 and ranked in the top 5% of a class of 270 students under the Fully Flexible Credit System(FFCS)
April1994-May 2008: High School Qualifications under the Central Board of Secondary Education, India at Ashok Hall Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Kolkata India
2006: Appeared for the AISSE(CBSE Class X Board Examination) with Mathematics, English, Science, Social Science and Bengali and scored a percentage of 88.6%.
2008: Appeared for the AISSCE(CBSE Class XII Board Examination) with English, Bengali, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, and Biotechnology and scored a percentage of 90.5%.
PERSONAL SKILLS:
Mother tongue(s): Bengali, English
Other language(s): Italian A1
COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
Communication skills were gained through my experience as a Student Ambassador for King’s College London and by working as a Student Telephone Fundraiser. I was also on the dramatics and debating societies all throughout school and college.
ORGANISATIONAL / MANAGERIAL SKILLS:
Organisational and managerial skills acquired by working as a Student Ambassador. Had to personally manage many events for prospective students, organise Open Days, seminars.
Also worked as a Summer School Ambassador for young persons between the age of 16-18 in a team of 12 for two weeks in July-August 2013 at King’s College London, which meant continuous supervision, management, ensuring safety as well as well-being of all the 60 participants involved, which included foreign students.
COMPUTER SKILLS:
- good command of Microsoft Office™ tools;
- fMRI analysis using XBAM 4.0;
- Statistical analysis using SPSS developed by IBM;
- Basic knowledge of computer language C;
CERTIFICATION:
Disclosure and Barring Certificate(DBS) for permission to work with young persons by the government of the United Kingdom
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
PRESENTATIONS:
A poster detailing the results of my Masters dissertation titled, ‘Self-Transcendence and Self-Directedness Related to the Symptomatic and Neural Effects of Cannabis’ was accepted for presentation at the Dual Diagnosis Conference in Barcelona to be held in October 2013.
HONOURS AND AWARDS:
Co-authored and presented a paper on “Standardisation of the Real-Time PCR Protocol Used for Detection of Tuberculosis using Seegene Anyplex™ Real-Time Mtb/Ntm Detection” during graVITas
2010 for which was adjudged 1st in the Paper Presentation Competition and was awarded a Certificate of Merit and a cash prize.
Ranked in the top 10% of B. Tech Biotechnology Class of 2012(Class Strength:270), VIT University, Vellore and was awarded scholarships at the end of first and second year of B. Tech Biotechnology for being ranked second and ninth respectively.
SEMINARS:
Francis Crick Institute seminar titled, “The Brain: Understanding Complexity”, December 2012.
Maudsley Debates, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, 2012-2014
Pint of Science lectures, London, 2013
Attended seminar titled ‘Passions of the Mind: The Story of the Early Days of Psycho-Analysis’, Arts and Humanities Festival, King’s College London, 2013
Freud Memorial Lecture 2013, King’s College London.
Twenty-First James Okey Lecture, 2012, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London
PROJECTS:
“Self-Transcendence and Self-Directedness Related to the Symptomatic and Neural Effects of THC in Healthy Individuals”(2013, Masters dissertation project)
“Test of a Positive Selection Vector for the secretion of Recombinant Protein in E.coli via SRP and TAT Type II secretion mechanism” (2012, Bachelors dissertation project)
As part of the iGEM( International Genetically Engineered Machine) Competition organized by MIT, USA, I was part of a project that involved construction of a low cost microbial fuel cell to treat domestic wastewater using a consortium of bacteria to degrade waste and generate electricity (Summer 2012, VIT University, Vellore, India)
I worked as the leader of a 4 member team in testing for toxicity and possible Arsenic contamination in samples from various water sources around Vellore by making a pH sensitive biosensor using DH5α strain of E.coli under the guidance of Dr. S. Babu, Associate Professor, VIT University, Vellore.
(Summer 2012, VIT University, Vellore, India)
REFERENCES:
Dr. Sagnik Bhattacharyya, Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, Dr. Veena Kumari, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, Dr. John Stephenson, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London