Rajendra Kumar-Singh

To develop therapies for diseases that cause specific forms of blindness, including Retinitis Pigmentosa and Age Related Macular Degeneration.
Rajendra Kumar-Singh

Home Town: Dublin, Ireland

Prior Degrees: 

  • PhD, University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Programs:

What is the ultimate goal of your research?

To develop therapies for diseases that cause specific forms of blindness, including Retinitis Pigmentosa and Age Related Macular Degeneration.

What excites you about your research?

The prospects of bringing sight to people who may otherwise develop blindness is my motivation in life. Almost every week I discover some new things, observations that have never been made before in human history and to be the first to discover new phenomena excites me. Understanding how nature works and using this information to manipulate it to achieve our goals of developing therapies is as exciting as things can get in my opinion. As a child I was always getting into trouble at home for taking things apart to figure out how they worked. I even electrocuted myself when I was four years old trying to figure out how light switches work! Luckily it was not fatal but that inquisitive nature never went away.

What do you like best about GSBS students?

I regularly notice that students at GSBS help each other out by sharing knowledge, expertise and general camaraderie.

What qualities distinguish GSBS from other graduate schools?

From my experience I would say that the faculty of GSBS are more friendly, communicative and collaborative than at other schools. This nurtures a better training environment for the students and allows them to focus on interesting science and frees students to explore as many avenues as possible in order to find solutions to their scientific questions.

What do you do to relax?

I have always been interested in photography. I used to play competitive tennis but haven't done so for a while. I read non-fiction and watch documentaries. I'm always trying to learn new things by myself.

What is your favorite Boston restaurant?

Via Matta