I am a graduate of the Wellesley College Class of 2011 with a major in Neuroscience. I came to Wellesley for the opportunity to fully engage in scientific research and joined Dr. Tetel’s team as a first year undergraduate student, where I continued to work during my four years at Wellesley.

In the Tetel lab, I worked on a collaboration project with Dr. Angelo Poletti (University of Milan), Dr. Larry Denner (The University of Texas Medical Branch), and Dr. Drew Webb (Wellesley College), to study the role of a dihydrotestosterone, 5 alpha-androstane-3 beta 17 beta-diol (3beta-Adiol), an androgen metabolite which binds to estrogen receptor beta (ERβ) and the coactivators in activating estrogen receptors signaling to inhibit cell migration of prostate cancer cells. I developed a pull-down assay to examine the interactions of the coactivators in DU-145 prostate cancer cells with ERβ. This research was funded by the Jerome A. Schiff Fellowship for Academic Research. I completed my undergraduate degree in Spring 2011 with Summa Cum Laude and an honors in Neuroscience. I was honored to be awarded the Judith Adams ’75 Graduation Prize for Pre-Medical Students and the Allene Lummis Russell Graduation Prize in Neuroscience.

I enjoyed being an active member of the Wellesley community, from founding the Wellesley Children’s Literacy Initiative with UNICEF (WCLI UNICEF), to being the president of the on-campus pre-medical society, the Hippocratic Society. I am also a concert pianist and hosted several recitals, featuring pieces including Chopin’s Ballade No.1, Chopin’s Scherzo No.2, and Debussy’s L’isle Joyeuse.

After graduating from Wellesley College, I continued my education at Harvard Medical School. I led the Cushing Neurosurgical Society and was elected as the president for the newly created Harvard Medical School Student Chapter of the American Associations of the Neurosurgical Society. I continued medical research under the guidance of Dr. Rose Du, Neurosurgery Department of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and was granted Doctor of Medicine with Honors in a Special Field (Neurosurgery) in May 2015.

PUBLICATIONS

Lai, P.M.R., Du, R. Role of genetic polymorphisms in predicting delayed cerebral ischemia and radiographic vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a meta-analysis. World Neurosurg. S1878-8750(15)00742-1, 2015.

Malik, A.M., Gross, B.A., Lai, P.M.R., Moses, Z.B., Du, R. Neurogenic stress cardiomyopathy after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. World Neurosurg. 83(6):880-5. 2015.

Zygourakis, C., Vasudeva, V., Lai, P.M.R., Kim, A., Wang, H., Du, R. Transient Pupillary Dilation Following Local Papaverine Application in Intracranial Aneurysm Surgery. J Clin Neurosci. S0967-5868(14)0667-5. 2015.

Lai, P.M.R., Dasenbrock, H.H., Du, R. The association between meteorological parameters and aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage: a nationwide analysis. Plos One. 9(11):e112961. 2014.

Gross, B.A., Lai, P.M.R., Du, R. Impact of aneurysm location on hemorrhage risk. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 123:78-82. 2014.

Lai, P.M.R., Dasenbrock, H.H., Lin, N., Du, R. The impact of insurance status on the outcomes after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Plos One. 8(10):e78047, 2013.

Lai, P.M.R., Lin, N., Du, R. Effect of teaching hospital status on outcome of aneurysm treatment. World Neurosurg. S1878-8750(13)00829-2, 2013.

Gross, B.A., Lai, P.M.R., Frerichs, K.U., Du, R. Treatment modality and vasospasm after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. World Neurosurg. S1878-8750(13)01003-6, 2013.

Gross, B.A., Lai, P.M.R., Frerichs, K.U., Du, R. Aspirin and Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage. World Neurosurg. S1878-8750(13)0056-8, 2013.

Gross, B.A., Lai, P.M.R., Frerichs, K.U., Du, R. Angiotensin-converting enzyme-inhibitors, statins and the risk of hemorrhage from cerebral ductal arteriovenous fistulae. J Clin Neurosci. 20(9):1228-31, 2013.

Gross, B.A., Lai, P.M.R., Du, R. Hydrocephalus after arteriovenous malformation rupture. Neurosurg Focus. 34(5):E11, 2013.

Tetel, M.J., Lai, P.M.R. Steroid receptor coactivator family: SRC-1, SRC-2 and SRC-3. Encyclopedia of Signaling Molecules. (Choi, S.Ed), New York, Springer Press, pp.1788-1792, 2012.

ABSTRACTS AND PRESENTATIONS:

Lai, P.M.R., Dasenbrock, H.H., Du, R. Associations of sunlight hours and relative humidity with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. International Stroke Conference, American Stroke Association, 2014.