Anjali Rai

I earned my bachelor’s degree from Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences (Manipal, India) in 2022. During this time, I also interned at Kasturba Hospital Pharmacy (Manipal) working on a well-designed, short project for improving aqueous solubility of the BCS Class II drug Nebivolol.  My experience with research and bench work motivated me to pursue a thesis-integrated master’s degree. To pursue this interest, I moved to the US and graduated from Creighton University (Omaha, NE) in 2024 with an MS in Pharmaceutical Sciences. My MS thesis focused on Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) and evaluating the intraocular pressure (IOP) efficacy of hydrogen sulfide releasing compounds in an ocular hypertensive rodent model. While working on my MS, my interest in vision sciences continued to grow, especially in the field of glaucoma; this led me to join Gill’s lab in 2024 as a PhD student. In my current project, I aim to characterize feline trabecular meshwork cell cultures from LTBP2 mutant cats. I also am planning to work on an LTBP2 conditional knockout mouse model and study the progression of glaucoma in these mice at different developmental stages. Outside of the lab, I like to work out, play badminton, and spend time with my two tabby cats at home. I fear that by the end of my PhD I will adopt another cat and will be a three-cat home.