Jayashree Balaraman grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey, the kind of student who loved biology and taught herself to code in high school because she was already beginning to sense that the two disciplines belonged together. When it came time to choose a college, RPI's emphasis on research and interdisciplinary thinking made it feel like the obvious fit. One visit to campus sealed the deal. 

"Attending the Accepted Student Celebration was just incredible," she recalls. "All the classes, all the research, the community — it was outstanding." A chance encounter with Associate Dean Lee Ligon, Ph.D., of the biology department during that visit was among the reasons she signed her enrollment forms. It turned out to be a formative introduction to the kind of mentorship that would define her undergraduate years. 

Now a graduating senior with a dual major in Computational Biology and Biochemistry, Balaraman has just become the first RPI student ever to win a Gates Cambridge Scholarship — one of the most prestigious graduate fellowships in the world, awarded to exceptional students from outside the United Kingdom to pursue postgraduate study at the University of Cambridge. She will head to England this fall to begin a Ph.D. program in Pharmacology. 

Balaraman's path from East Brunswick to Cambridge ran directly through RPI's labs. She spent three years in the lab of Professor Jennifer Hurley, Ph.D., using machine learning and molecular dynamics simulations to study the nuances of circadian rhythm at both the macro and molecular level. "I've been computationally modeling biological systems to really increase the resolution of our understanding of the human body and immune responses," she says.  

Balaraman’s work took her to an internship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, where she worked in the lab of Doreen Matthies, Ph.D., under the guidance of Louis Tung Faat Lai, Ph.D. Alexander Sodt, Ph.D., provided additional mentorship and guidaence. 

At Bethesda, "I walked through the scientific method from beginning to end, and I was like, 'Yes, this is what I want to do with my life,'" she says. "I saw the potential of how you can take a question and dive deep into it, and really understand a disease target to a greater extent." The experience crystallized her fascination with ion channels and membrane proteins, and how disruptions in these structures are implicated in complex metabolic diseases like diabetes as well as cardiovascular anomalies. 

At Cambridge, she'll focus on G protein-coupled receptors, or GPCRs, a family of proteins that are among the most important and "druggable" targets in all of medicine, with roughly 36 percent of FDA-approved drugs acting on them. Her project will examine how genetic variation within these receptors affects drug binding, efficacy, and safety.  

"It's not true that every protein binds the same way," she explains. "Variations at the genetic level affect how a person responds to treatment. Given that the GPCR family is enormous, developing personalized treatments for the many diseases it influences is a huge opportunity." Her goal is to advance precision medicine approaches that are “effective and equitable,” ensuring that the benefits of tailored therapeutics reach and work for all populations and patients. 

“Jayashree is the epitome of what it means to be a student at RPI,” Professor Hurley said. “She is excited to learn every time she shows up at the lab, creative in her research, and unstoppable in her drive to discover something the world does not yet know. I am very proud to call her a member of my team and I know that she will go on to do amazing things!” 

Looking back, Balaraman credits RPI's sometimes-demanding coursework as essential preparation. Courses like Physics 2 and Computer Science 1 pushed her to her limits, she says, but forged both her analytical skills and her sense of community. "Each class trains a different element of your brain. Coming out of it, you find your people and figure out how to come together to make things work." 

To current RPI students eyeing competitive fellowships, her advice is simple: don't talk yourself out of applying. "Scholarships like this might seem scary, but don't limit yourself — always shoot for the stars," she says. "Challenge yourself beyond your comfort zone, put in your full effort, and believe in the potential you carry. I'm very excited and happy I chose RPI in the first place and would like to thank the Department of Biological Sciences, the Center for Career and Professional Development, my NIH mentors, the Science Hub, as well as my family." 

Balaraman added that the support of that latter group was especially pivotal on her RPI journey: "Special thank you to my dearest grandmother, Radhai, who believed in me from the very beginning and instilled in me the strength and discipline to turn my dreams into reality," she said.