Mugs, Coding, and Nerding Out : My January
Read to see some learnings from the past month, some stuff I've done, and to gain some value recommendation-wise.
Hey!
What’s the most used language in programming? Profanity, with sarcasm coming in at a close second.
Welcome back to my newsletter. Hope you had a snowy January.
For those who don't know, I'm Nina Khera. You may have met me during a meeting, or at the latest networking event in Boston. I'm a 14-year-old human longevity researcher who's working on projects from topics spanning cellular senescence (zombie cells) to epidermolysis bullosa (skin disease)!
This month I’ve been focusing on Biotein’s endeavours, learning more about coding, my project with the Gladyshev lab, and researching brain aging a lot more.
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Biotein
This month was, as always, an eventful month for us at Biotein! We got a lot more clarity on the proteins we will be using for our biological age test, and got some really great results involving them (we found large differences in concentration between senescent and proliferating cells).
Also, we’ve been working on our product website. We aim to have tracking for your test results over time, and to have recommendations/risk assessments for different diseases. Our goal is to keep all that in one site users can periodically check.
We’ve been going hard on article-writing and marketing. We think that one of the main problems with the longevity and aging field currently is that people don’t know enough about it to understand the benefits of doing things about your aging process. We want to change that by recommending and putting out great content around the aging process. Here’s our latest article.
There’s also been a lot of work and looking into brain aging. We’re planning to apply for J&J’s Quickfire Neuroscience competition, so we’re getting ready for that and looking into brain aging-related things we find really cool. We’re looking into vascular dementia/the mechanisms behind it, and chaperone-mediated autophagy.
Last of all, we’ve been applying for grants + pitch competitions. We have realized we’re going to need 20-25K for prototyping and production at first, so we’re finding smaller competitions we can participate in, as the amount isn’t enough to warrant VC funding. If you know of any pitch competitions/grants, let us know! It would be much appreciated.
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Mindsets and Philosophy
I love this section so much: It’s basically a free pass for me to nerd out about cool ways of thinking. Note: these are all theories, and no matter how definite they may be phrased, they aren’t close to definite. If you have thoughts/want to debate me on this, reply-email! I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Focus and dedication to one thing is incredibly rewarding. I’ve been experimenting a lot with my priorities, and things I spend time on (pretty synonymous). I’ve realized that having a few key things I focus and work on is really important to me so that I don’t feel scattered and all over the place. I’m making an effort to be that way in my life.
I’ve been thinking about being satisfied with what you’re doing. On one hand, I think it’s great to keep pushing and to want more than what you have, but at one point does that cross the line into unhappiness and not being satisfied with yourself? Maybe being satisfied isn’t a good thing, because it means you don’t push as hard. However, if you never feel satisfied, when will you be happy and content?
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Getting Better at Coding
I’ve been making an effort to branch out of my comfort zone this past while with coding, so I’ve been coding in HTML (I know it’s a markup language, but I’m still giving myself credit haha), Javascript, CSS, and Java.
I recently participated in a hackathon, and made a website to educate people on the pandemic - I want to keep doing these kinds of things to improve.
Also, I’ve been trying to do Machine Learning in Java. It’s definitely been a struggle, but I’ve really been enjoying seeing it all come to life. It’s the pinnacle of happiness for me when my program has 0 errors.
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Knowledge Bytes
Here are some recommendations from the month!
- A beautiful article: The Opposite of Loneliness by Marina Keegan. This is an insightful article talking about community and what it feels like to be the opposite of lonely. It’s a great read.
- Interesting interview: Emma Watson Interviewing Lin Manuel Miranda. This is a great interview going over Hamilton (I recently watched it, it’s amazing), and his vision behind the whole thing + what we can learn from it. I highly recommend watching Hamilton on Disney+ if you have the means to.
- A great smoothie flavor: Strawberry-mango-raspberry. I totally recommend these (the only ingredients, plus a bit of stevia), but I may be biased by the fact that I’m drinking one right now as I write this.
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Shoutouts
Here are some fun shoutouts:
- Dr. Aubrey de grey for continuously great feedback and insights into problems and questions I have.
- The Biotein team for uplifting and amazing discussions everytime I talk with y’all. I’m so thankful to have you as a team.
- My family for continuously supporting the work I do and the passions I have.
- Dr. Karl Miller for being really supportive and teaching me a lot about the aging field during our project, I’m excited to work on next steps!
- Dr. Jonathan Fleming for an insightful discussion and a chance to learn from you.
Thank you to everyone reading this. Even if I didn't mention you this month. you probably helped me a lot. Thank you!
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Next Month
In February, I’ll be working more on Biotein’s bio-age test, researching brain aging, writing more articles for Youth STEM Matters and Lifespan.io, formatting and submitting my paper with the Gladyshev lab, continuing with my schoolwork, and a lot more! Thanks for catching up with me this month!
Reach out to me if you want to talk about human longevity, life sciences in general, philosophy, or anything else honestly!
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-khera-115b5a175/
Personal Website: https://ninakhera.com/
Email: kheranina@gmail.com (or just reply to this email)