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Shubham Gupta, a fourth-year PhD student in molecular genetics and computational biology, has been awarded a Jennifer Dorrington Graduate Research Award for 2021.

Gupta’s research goal is to develop computational methods for identification of early biomarkers of diabetes years before symptoms appear. He is supervised by Assistant Professor Hannes Röst in the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research.

Using machine learning and other advanced methods, Gupta is developing tools for tracking hundreds of protein species in blood plasma over long periods of time. Such methods would open the door to molecular diagnostics on a more granular level than what is currently possible with blood analyses that typically look at a handful of protein markers at a time.

Collaborating with personalized medicine pioneer Michael Snyder at Stanford University, Gupta has access to a unique dataset comprising a thousand blood samples collected from 100 prediabetic individuals every three months over five years, and is in the process of identifying early molecular signs of diabetes.

“The Dorrington award means a lot to me,” says Gupta. “It’s a great recognition for my work especially in this year of the pandemic when I didn’t get as much chance to interact with my co-workers and bounce off ideas.”