Graduate Student Researcher at Kravets Lab in University of California San Diego

About the Lab 

  • Understand the reasons behind the disproportionate control that insulin-producing β-cell subpopulations exert over pancreatic islet function.

  • Discover patterns of functional β-cell network plasticity in health and disease (Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes)

Skills

  • Islet Isolation & Culturing

  • Fluorescence Microscopy

  • Mouse work 

  • Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) & Inverse FFT

  • Signal Extraction

  • Matlab & ImageJ

  • Immunofluorescence Imaging

  • Imaris & GraphPad Prism

  • Data Analysis & Accuracy

  • MS Office 

Project Duration

1 year


My Role

Experimental Protocol Development & Validation :

Successfully established experimental protocols involving islet isolation, cell culturing, fluorescence microscopy, and data analysis. Specialized in working with mice engineered to express cell-specific GCAMP6, adhering to Good Clinical Practice (GCP) standards to ensure rigorous and reliable research outcomes.

Advanced Signal Processing:

Applied sophisticated signal processing techniques, including Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT, frequency, and phase analysis, to analyze Ca2+ traces in pancreatic islets. Leveraged Matlab and ImageJ for signal extraction, contributing to a deeper understanding of cellular dynamics.

Data Consistency Analysis: 

Conducted a thorough analysis of responder consistency across 20 isolated islets and 50 tissue slices. This work provided critical insights into the structural-functional correlations within the islet networks, ensuring the accuracy and reproducibility of research findings.

Imaging and Quantification: 

Utilized advanced imaging software such as Imaris and GraphPad Prism for immunofluorescent image overlay, precise cell counting of alpha, beta, and delta cells, and determination of intercellular distances. Calculated area fractions to quantify alpha cell abundance, enhancing the lab’s ability to validate and report key findings in diabetes research.

Poster/ Publication

D. Ramirez, Y. Zang, A. Sethiya, C. Levitt, R.K.P. Benninger, V. Kravets, The role of the paracrine interaction in the pancreatic beta cell networks, Proceedings of the Islet Study Group Meeting, Vancouver, Canada, 2023