Ohio State student royalty excels in research

One Buckeye engineer is taking on the research world head-on with her lab coat—and tiara—in hand.

Preethi Chidambaram, a fourth-year biomedical engineering student, was crowned Ohio State’s Homecoming Queen last fall and continues to excel in other areas around campus.

On track to go to medical school, Chidambaram said she is interested in studying ophthalmology and is excited to see how she can use the principles she has learned during her undergraduate career to impact the public health world.

She hoped that studying biomedical engineering would help her to see where engineering and medicine coincide, believing that BME could be the future of medicine.

Currently, Chidambaram is working on a clinical study with Cynthia Roberts, professor of biomedical engineering and ophthalmology, to explore how corneal biomechanics may differ by race.

Corneal biomechanics involves how the cornea, the clear tissue covering the front of the eye, moves in response to force, said Chidambaram. Variances in a person’s corneal biomechanics can determine disease development, affect response to surgery and confound measurements of intraocular pressure, an important diagnostic tool for many different diseases including glaucoma. 

To illustrate this effect, think about the difference between a balloon and a basketball, Chidambaram explained.

“They could have the same outer layer thickness and the pressure inside those could be the same, but the basketball would feel like it has a higher pressure inside because it is surrounded by a stiffer material,” she said. “The surrounding material is analogous to the cornea and the pressure inside the ball represents the intraocular pressure.”

“Knowing when people have high pressure is critical for diagnostics, but we don’t know how the cornea is affecting the measurement of the pressure. Most measurements right now don’t account for the differences in corneal biomechanics.”

Chidambaram has been working with Roberts since her second year at Ohio State and has had a hand in every step of the research process, from writing the protocol to recruiting subjects and administering tests.

A series of five tests are performed on each subject, two of which are air puff tests, two pressure measurements with a probe that lightly touches the eye, and a scan of the eye.

“We are looking at how corneal biomechanics might be different by race, so we are hoping that will help us better identify risk factors and help us improve how we interpret measurements that are done on the eye,” Chidambaram said.

Although this has been studied in the past, new technology Roberts has helped create may provide a better and more accurate idea of differences in corneal biomechanics and if it is worth exploring further.

“Ophthalmology is something I’ve been interested in for a while, and this project has shown me more of the intersection of medicine and engineering,” said Chidambaram. “Getting to work in the clinic and seeing how biomechanics, something I have learned about theoretically in my engineering classes, actually looks in the clinic—how it is affecting what diagnoses are being made and how measurements are being interpreted—is incredible.”

Perhaps the most beneficial aspect of her research has been getting to work with and learn from Roberts.

“She is an expert in her field, and she’s really helped develop my understanding of what it means to ask thoughtful questions and find the answers in a very methodical way. She has been a great mentor to me,” said Chidambaram.

Throughout her time at Ohio State, Chidambaram has had the opportunity to see two different kinds of research; one exploring what patterns might exist in nature or in people and the other, developing a new technology, OncoFilter, during her first year.

Chidambaram worked in the lab helping to create a small biochip that uses microfluidics and bead-based ELISA techniques to diagnose ovarian cancer with a single drop of blood. This technology allows for a faster and less invasive diagnostic process.

“Research has been a huge part of my undergraduate experience overall,” she said. “Doing research has taught me how to be more analytical about what I’m reading and learning, not just in class, but in my day-to-day life.”

by Emily Lehmkuhl, College of Engineering student communications assistant