De La Salle Award-Winner Sahiba Kaur Dogra ' 24 Believes that Curiosity Fuels Change

科学一直是个人的事情 Sahiba Kaur Dogra ' 24. A 生物学 主要和 数据科学 小, 她对免疫学的迷恋, 遗传学, 而生物医学开始于试图了解自己.

作为一个婴儿, Dogra被诊断为嗜酸性食管炎, or EoE: a rare genetic disorder that makes eating most solid foods difficult. 从小到大，她经常进出医院. 她的饮食包括7种食物:车前草, 香蕉, 详细的南瓜, 花生, 菜花, 西兰花, 和大米. 她说，尽管如此，她总是带着“好奇心”接近自己的身体. “There were things on an invisible, microscopic scale that made such a large impact on my daily life. 我只是想知道为什么.”

In 2023, 在圣玛丽学校读书的时候, Dogra被批准为一种治疗药物，改变了这一切. 突然, she had the opportunity to explore an array of new food options and experiences. 今天, 她打算从事生物医学方面的事业, 希望为他人提供同样的转变. 

在SMC的四年里，Dogra无疑留下了她的印记. 她是今年德拉萨奖的获得者, presented annually to one graduating student with the highest record for academic and general excellence. Alongside Valedictorian, it’s the most significant honor the College offers. 

她还获得了亚瑟·S. 和卡洛斯·弗雷塔斯奖, which recognize the senior with the most outstanding scholastic record in the 理学院 (SOS)和生物项目. 为 爱丽丝Baldridge, SOS临时主任, Dogra represents exceptional academic achievement while also embodying that quintessential Saint Mary’s ethos: 进来是为了学习，离开是为了服务. 

Sahiba渴望了解她的疾病的复杂性, 为了…, 正如她曾经写道, “鼓励改变, 为患有不治之症的人提供成长和治疗, 罕见和衰弱性疾病,’”鲍德里奇说. “I’ve been impressed with her reflection on her own growth as a student, 十大网赌平台, 她在圣玛丽医院的那段时间.”

突破

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四月底我和道格拉谈话的时候, we meet in a place she knows well: a lab classroom on the second floor of Brousseau Hall. 她认为自己是个内向的人, 而是热情洋溢，口齿清晰, 尤其是在遗传学方面. At one point, she gestures to a plastic model of a double helix atop a supplies cabinet. 她开玩笑说:“在这里的四年里，我从来没有见过这样的举动。. (我们最终创造了历史，把它拉下来拍照.)

Dogra来自一个注重细节的家庭. Her mother is a social worker, and her father manages artificial intelligence projects for Amazon. Her older brother—classically trained in Indian Classical violin —just completed his master’s in composition. 

“I’m the first in my close family to pursue research,” she acknowledges. 为她, the interest in 生物学 began with the doctors and specialists she encountered at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. “从小到大，他们都是我心目中的英雄.”

多格拉还在考虑上大学的时候, 她立刻被SMC所吸引，因为它的邻近和规模. 一个通勤, 她想找一个有家的感觉的校园, 即使她和家人住在圣拉蒙. “我知道我会在一所大大学里迷路，”她说. “我真的很想要那种紧密联系的环境, 你在哪里认识每个人, 这真的很支持我.” 

除了支持和关系, 她很快就找到了研究大量课题的机会. 在2021年，通过 科学学院暑期研究项目， 她和生物学教授一起工作 凯布莱斯德尔, discovering numerous aphid-spread viruses on the trees of SMC’s Bertrain Redwood Grove. 

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第二年夏天, she secured a competitive internship at the renowned Sandia National Laboratories, researching probiotic and prebiotic treatments for 病原菌. 然后, in 2023, 她在SENS研究基金会实习, a Mountain View-based facility that funds groundbreaking anti-aging science.   

Through all of these opportunities, as well as through courses with Professor of 生物学 维迪雅Chandrasekaran 或与副教授 Rashaan Meneses MFA ' 06, 是谁在大学研讨会上教她的, 多格拉看到了对科学的好奇心是如何催化变化的, 特别是对于边缘人群. 和EoE一起生活，她知道被忽视是什么感觉. 

“生物学是一方面，”她说. “But when you can use biology to make a difference, it’s something else entirely.”

级联成功

对多格拉来说，她最有意义的研究发生在2022年. 这可能, she was stunned to learn that the FDA had approved Dupixent—an anti-inflammatory drug previously used for eczema—as the first treatment for EoE. “当我听到这个消息时，就像做梦一样，”她后来写道. “在过去的20年里，我一直被告知我的病是无法治愈的.”

尽管她欣喜若狂，但她体内的科学家气质很快就发挥了作用. She knew how uncommon EoE is; out of 333 million Americans, 据估计，她是152人中的一员,152与EoE. 这是在 .04%. “罕见疾病没有得到很多资助……我当时想， 好吧，你是怎么想出治疗方法的?” 

多格拉决定一探究竟. 十大正规网赌平台荣誉课程的成员, she is required to complete three independent research projects called Contracts 为了… graduate with the Honors distinction. 和生物学教授一起工作 安东尼•Talo 她用第二份合同来解释杜邦是如何形成的. 

“Something I've learned while here at Saint Mary's is that you want patients to feel like they're living their best life...我能做的任何事都是我的梦想.”

The project would eventually become an award-winning essay published in Saint Mary’s 跨学科杂志 光谱. A central analogy of Dogra’s paper is the “domino effect”: just as there is “cascade of molecular reactions” that causes EoE in herself and others, 所以一个科学发现推动了另一个科学发现, 和另一个, 和另一个.

人类基因组计划, 例如, was critical for EoE researchers at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital—the same researchers who treated Dogra as a child. 通过它，他们获得了世界上第一张全面的DNA图谱. This allowed them to pinpoint the dysregulated genes that brought an excess of eosinophils (a type of white blood cell) to the esophagus. 通过了解这些基因, researchers were able to discover that Dupixent would also be helpful for people with EoE.

换句话说，多米诺骨牌倒下了. “一件事接一件事，”她说. “All of these intersecting factors eventually create success for so many patients like me.”

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赋予病人权力

在2023年秋天，Dogra被批准用于Dupixent. 突然, 22岁时, 她从吃七种核心食物变成了几乎什么都吃——除了乳制品, 鸡蛋, 还有其他一些食物. 这是她第一次可以在素食餐厅吃饭.

对一些食肉动物来说，这听起来还是很有限. 但她强调，对她来说，这是一种解放. “Honestly, being able to eat out at a restaurant is still a very new experience for me!(顺便说一句，她渴望得到推荐.)

Her final semesters at Saint Mary’s have been packed with new experiences. 她目前是 DiverseAbilities俱乐部, a student organization dedicated to educating the SMC community about disability issues and hosting events and spaces for differently abled Gaels. 值得注意的是, 过去的一年, 今年是校园多元化活动最活跃的一年, and it was recognized as the Student Organization of the Year at an awards ceremony earlier this month. 

四月底, Dogra learned she had won the De La Salle Award as well as the two top-tier SOS awards. “当我听到这个消息时，我非常震惊，”她说. “我想我现在还是.” She credits her peers and professors with supporting and encouraging her. “我觉得圣玛丽社区非常爱我. 它确实证明了我在这里的四年和我所付出的一切.”  

As for what’s next, she’s planning on graduate school, although not immediately. Mostly, she wants to find a job in a biomedical lab in the Bay Area and get to work. 

在未来的岁月里，她可以帮助治愈不治之症. But ultimately, she tells me, it’s people—their wants, their hopes—that will guide her. “Something I've learned while here at Saint Mary's is that you want patients to feel like they're living their best life,她告诉我. “这可能包括也可能不包括治疗."

“这一切都是为了赋予病人权力，”多格拉继续说道. 在她的声音里, 我能听见, 也许, 同样的平静, compassionate intonations she first heard from the Cincinnati doctors she encountered as a child. “我能做的任何事情都是我的梦想.”