University of Helsinki

Student interview: PRASANNA SAKHA

Inspiration from research and marathons

Nepalese Prasanna Sakha got his B.Sc. degree in biotechnology in India. “I always wanted to work in field of neurology. I was first considering getting a degree in medicine and work as a medical doctor. Yet, the thought of going into research attracted me more”, Sakha says.

“I felt that my master´s studies in Nordic countries would be a completely new experience. I knew that University of Helsinki has good reputation for the quality of research and education. The Master´s Degree Programme in Neuroscience had just been launched, and the research based teaching approach encouraged me to apply to the programme”.

Sakha joined docent Henri Huttunen´s research group at the Neuroscience Center as soon as he entered MNEURO. His master´s thesis concerned with protein signaling networks involved in Alzheimer´s disease. “Working in the Alzheimer´s project has been challenging and inspiring. I also learned a lot technically when developing systems to study protein-protein interactions in vivo by utilizing live cell imaging techniques.”

“I have now moved on to docent Sari Lauri´s laboratory to study synaptogenesis.” I will complete my master´s degree soon and then continue to Ph.D. as a joint project of these two research groups,” Sakha says.

“I have familiarized myself with Finnish culture, made friends, and even became inspired to start running marathons. Coming to Finland has been one of my best experiences.”

 

Text and photo: Ulla Lahtinen