Oxford glory for student
CHATSWORTH-BORN Kalina Naidoo, 31, graduated last week with a Doctor in Philosophy (Dphil) in Psychiatry at Oxford University in England.
Naidoo’s research was based on how to potentially regulate physiological stress by what people eat.
She said she never fancied herself furthering her studies at Oxford University.
“I always say the matter of a few seconds of a late elevator changed my life. While waiting for the elevator at medical school – I glimpsed an advert for a scholarship. It just asked five questions, and if your answers were all in the affirmative – it meant that you were eligible to apply for the scholarship, for a Master’s degree at the University of Oxford.
“I then applied for the Rhodes and the Cecil Renaud scholarships, and I received the latter which was £35 000 towards a Master’s degree at a Uk-based university. Oxford’s medical science division was the best in the world at the time, so I thought it best to apply there. I was successful and after completing my Master’s in Psychiatry I stayed for my Dphil which was funded by the Commonwealth Scholarship,” said Naidoo.
She said her Dphil thesis was on the in vitro and in vivo effects of gut microbial products on ACTH signalling
in the anterior pituitary gland.
“I was investigating how amino acids that we get from the bacteria that grow in our gut, affect the stress signalling in the body. We culture this gut bacteria via our diet – therefore the aim of my thesis was to investigate if we could potentially regulate physiological stress by what we eat.”
She said before moving to the UK in 2015, she obtained her Master’s of Medical Science at the University of Kwazulu-natal (UKZN).
Naidoo said she had always been interested in neuroscience, in particular dementia.
“I was first interested in Hiv-associated dementia under the guidance of Professor William Daniels at UKZN. I wanted to add quality to life, not just quantity. Following my PHD, I am back in dementia research,” she said.
Naidoo currently works as a post-doctoral researcher in the Oxford Parkinson’s Disease Centre.
“My project is a collaboration with a pharmaceutical company which involves investigation into compounds targeting the GBA mutation of Parkinson’s disease. I am also a member of my department’s outreach and engagement working group, and as a mentor for the university’s Bipoc Stem Network, as I am passionate about increasing access to science for women of colour,” she said.