By Fabiha Saddat
Imagine a young mind tackling one of society’s most heartbreaking phenomena- Natasha Kulviwat, a 16-year old high school junior did just this. She embraced her endeavor in the field of suicide research and won the prestigious $50,000 Gordon E. Moore award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.
Natasha spent six months at Columbia university, immersed in exploring the intricate terrain of the human brain. She aimed to unravel the physiological mysteries of suicide and find potential solutions and/or prevention efforts. Her research revolved around identifying biomarkers (an antonym, meaning that the word means exactly what the name suggests)- physical substances in the brain that are “markers” or identifiers for a certain phenomena, suicide in this case. Essentially, she was looking for things in the brain that can correlate to suicide risk. She compared the brain tissue of 10 individuals who died by suicide to a control group (those who didn’t die by suicide) and discovered something astonishing. First, she found an increased presence of inflammatory cytokines in the brains of those who died by suicide, signifying that the immune system has gone haywire. However, this discovery was only the tip of the iceberg of what she found from her research.
The game-changing thing that Natasha discovered in the brain tissues of those who died by suicide was that- there was a heightened amount of Claudin-5 in unexpected areas of the brain tissue. In the realm of neuropsychopharmacology, Claudin-5 is known as the gatekeeper of neurological function (cite) as it controls what can and cannot enter through the blood-brain barrier (BBB). To put things in context, the brain's security system is so tight that 95% of drugs that are meant to act on the brain, are unable to do so because of these vigilant gatekeepers that sit at the BBB (cite). Isn’t it intriguing that the brain tissues of those who died by suicide had more of these strict gatekeepers (Claudin-5 being one of the major ones)? Does this indicate a potential breach in what entered into the brain? This discovery leaves us with more questions and a pioneers a whole new explorative avenue in suicide research.
Moreover, Claudin-5 dysfunction & altered levels are also found in other neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimers, neuroinflammatory disorders and psychiatric disorders like depression and schizophrenia (cite). Hence, this discovery of more Claudin-5 in suicidal brains prompts us from focusing our suicide research solely on the psychological factors and move towards an inclusion or focus on physiological factors as well- which is potentially encouraging a paradigm shift in how suicide studies are approached.
Natasha now plans her next steps to discover how anti-inflammatory medications might interact with Claudia-5, exemplifying the spirit of the curiosity and dedication present in a scientist. In light of this, we celebrate Natasha’s remarkable discovery at a young age as well as the power of women in STEM. We thank her for inspiring others to break stereotypes and drive positive changes in the world.
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