Fellow Focus in Four introduces you to fellows from each section of the Department of Internal Medicine. This month's fellow is Shan Parikh, MD, PhD, a clinical fellow in Cardiovascular Medicine.
Why did you choose medicine?
As my mother was a nuclear medicine technologist, I frequently spent after-school hours in the physician’s lounge, where I was exposed to the incredible power of medical imaging. There, I witnessed the multidisciplinary decision making that went into determining clot busting versus cardiac bypass. While initially I was awestruck by the “coolness” of the multicolor donuts corresponding to hearts in nuclear medicine, as I progressed in my training, I became fascinated by the prospect of investigating cardiac physiology and developing innovative treatments to prevent the development of coronary artery disease, a passion that continues to drive my career.
What was your path to Yale?
My connection to Yale extends back to my first research experience as a high school student in Dr. Jane Taylor’s laboratory, where I explored fear and memory reconsolidation. I was fortunate to continue pursuing my interests in scientific inquiry at the University of Connecticut, where I completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physiology and neurobiology under Dr. Joe LoTurco. Subsequently, I completed a medical scientist training program at Vanderbilt School of Medicine, where I earned a PhD in pharmacology under Dr. Bjorn Knollmann. It was through these experiences that I solidified my decision to pursue a path as a physician scientist in cardiovascular disease and ultimately joined the physician scientist training program at Yale.
What's a fun fact about you?
I love gardening and growing my own vegetables. Even while living in a condo, I constructed an indoor vermiculture setup to dispose of my vegetable scraps and generate worm castings to feed my patio plants. I continue to compost now, and the majority of food and paper waste from my household is converted into soil and fertilizer for my garden.
What is your 5-year goal? Your career aspirations?
My five-year goal is to solidify my clinical skills in cardiology while initiating a research portfolio aimed at investigating mechanisms of cardiac disease. My long-term career aspirations are to help care for patients with cardiac disease while building an investigative effort to improve our understanding of cardiomyocyte biology and facilitate development of novel strategies for improving cardiac care. Ultimately, I am committed to pushing the boundaries of medical knowledge and improving health care outcomes through rigorous scientific investigation and patient care.