Campus Grad Slam Winner Examines ‘Gut Viruses: Friends or Foes?’

Working in the Ph.D. program has refined his interest in studying intestinal immunity.

His three-minute Grad Slam talk, "Gut Viruses: Friends or Foes?" focuses on his research into human intestinal epithelial responses to bacteriophages.

"Ambarish is conducting a clever, yet risky project," Grasis said. "His research addresses direct and indirect inflammatory effects of bacteriophages on gastrointestinal cells and has found that certain bacteriophages directly affect gut inflammation. This could be a profound finding to combat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) states."

Varadan said there is a gap in the knowledge that they are trying to address.

"There's a massive body of work on how important the intestinal microbiota is to our health. Bacteriophages are the most abundant viruses of the intestine, but their direct impact on intestinal epithelial cells has not been extensively explored before," Varadan said. "Previous research has shown that patients with inflammatory diseases, including IBD, colorectal cancer, type 2 diabetes and cystic fibrosis, have altered and often expanded populations of specific bacteriophages in their systems.

"We are looking at whether they are a consequence of the disease or do they exacerbate the disease? Or could they possibly make the disease better? Would they possibly help the patient? That's what led us to ask what these bacteriophages do."

Varadan will defend his thesis this summer and participate in the campus's fall commencement ceremony.

Before that, he will compete for systemwide bragging rights and a share of $14,000 in prize money at the UC Grad Slam finale livestreamed at 10:30 a.m. Friday. Be sure to watch and cast your vote for Varadan for the People's Choice Award at the end of the presentations.