Viswatej Avutu

Viswatej Avutu, who goes by Vishu, is a Dean’s Honored Graduate in Biochemistry. He is also a member of the Dean’s Scholars Honors Program. During his time at UT Vishu has received an astonishing number of scholarships and grants, including an Unrestricted Endowed Presidential Scholarship, the American Chemical Society’s International Research Experience for Undergraduates Scholarship, and the Virginia and Ernest Cockrell Jr. Scholarship in Engineering. He also received the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, a scholarship that allowed him to pursue research in science and engineering in Germany.

Vishu started his work in Dr. Andrew Ellington’s lab (which he terms “Ellingtonia”) in the summer of 2007, and since then he has collaborated on numerous projects and completed an honors thesis.

Vishu’s original research work in Ellingtonia involved the efficient synthesis of aptamers. Aptamers are nucleic acid molecules that bind to a biological target. If that biological target is important in human health, the efficacy of aptamer binding can have important medical implications. While working with Dr. Ellington, Vishu challenged the traditional method of aptamer synthesis. The traditional selection process is preformed in vitro, that is, without the use of an intact, living model system. Instead, Vishu developed a method of aptamer selection that could be performed in vivo or in the living animal. He identified their localization within different cell lines and sought to improve the effectiveness of a potentially therapeutic aptamer.

Not only does Vishu investigate new areas of science, he helps others to understand and master challenging material. He says that some of his best experiences at UT were while working as a teaching assistant. He says that work taught him “the importance of understanding something, not just knowing it.” Vishu also spent time helping his peers at the University of Texas Teaching and Learning Center. In his free time he worked at the Round Rock Medical Center, training emergency room volunteers.

This summer, Vishu has a research fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. There he plans to continue the research he has started at UT Austin. Next fall, Vishu will pursue a degree in medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. Vishu chose Life in Medicine: A Literary Anthology and Clinically Oriented Anatomy for his books.