Among the first things Pushpa Neppala (BS '14) needed to get used to in Finland were the long, long days. In August, when she arrived in Turku, a city along Finland's southwest coast, the sun rose at 5 a.m. and didn't set until 11 p.m. Now, with the days getting shorter, she is apprehensive about the long, long nights. By December, she will see less than six hours of daylight. "I'm not looking forward to the dark, cold Finnish winter," says Neppala, who's originally from Mount Kisco, New York, about an hour's drive from Manhattan. "But everyone here seems to get through it, so I guess I'll survive."
Neppala is spending her first year of post-Caltech life at the Turku Centre for Biotechnology, where she's studying the role of a gene called CIP2A in neuroblastoma, a cancer that most commonly affects children under the age of five. Neuroblastoma occurs when things go awry in a group of stem cells known as the neural crest. These cells give rise to the peripheral nervous system, the skin, and the bone and cartilage found in the face. This research nicely follows Neppala's Caltech, experience in the lab of Marianne Bronner, the Albert Billings Ruddock Professor of Biology, where she examined how CIP2A and n-Myc, another gene implicated in cancer, are involved in the development of the neural crest.
After graduating from Caltech, Neppala's experience in Bronner's lab inspired her to learn more about the causes of pediatric cancers, and to continue studying the CIP2A gene, which has been linked to a number of cancers in addition to neuroblastoma. She also wanted to travel and see more of the world. Thanks to a fellowship from the American-Scandinavian Foundation, she's able to do both. She received $16,000 to join the lab of Jukka Westermarck at the Turku Centre for Biotechnology. Westermarck discovered the CIP2A gene only a few years ago and, with his colleagues is now trying to develop cancer therapies to target it.
Neppala admits that she has lot of work to do if she is to make headway in only a year. "But I'm giving it my best shot," she says, "and I'm learning a lot about the intersection of development and disease in the process." She's also gaining insight into Finnish culture and society—and noticing how things differ from the United States. "Compared to Americans, Finns are a lot more quiet and reserved," she says, but as they open up, she has found them very warm and welcoming. She adds that "Finnish coffee is way better than American coffee," and copious amounts of Finnish coffee have helped ease her transition.
One of her biggest surprises has been discovering the efficiency of bicycling as a means of transportation. "There are more bikes than cars here; biking seems like a way of life," Neppala observes. University education is also free, with the government offering a stipend for all undergraduates. "A college degree is seen as a right, not a privilege," she says, "and this has led to a very educated, well-functioning general population."
Neppala plans to go to medical school at UC San Diego next year and, eventually, to do medical research as a physician. But for now, she's focused on enjoying Finland. "So far," she says, "I love it here!"
