60 Seconds With...Sakshi Rajesh

Sakshi Rajesh is a DPhil student in the CAMY research group, EDGE research group, and the Oxford Centre for Emerging Minds Research. She is also a co-chair of the Department of Psychiatry's Race and Psychiatry Journal Club, alongside Briana Applewhite.

Tell us a little about yourself, and what attracted you to studying at the University of Oxford?  

I’m from Mumbai, India, and I’ve been in Oxford since 2021, when I came to do my BA in Experimental Psychology. For my final-year research project, I worked with my current supervisor, Eleanor Leigh, on an experimental study of the relationship between self-focused attention and social anxiety in children. She encouraged me to apply for the DPhil, which is not something I thought was even a possibility at the time, and here I am!

I feel grateful to be surrounded and supported by such incredible people every day. They are the ones who have kept me in Oxford all these years.

What is your vision for the research you study?

I research anhedonia—i.e., diminished interest and pleasure in activities—in young people, with a focus on how it relates to common mental health problems like depression and social anxiety, and what psychological mechanisms might keep it going.

In conversations with young people experiencing anhedonia, they’ve described how difficult it has been to lose parts of their life that once brought them so much happiness, to the extent that it feels like losing a part of themselves.

The goal of all this work is to ultimately develop strategies that can help young people regain that lost spark of joy.

What is currently at the top of your To-Do List?

Finding a presenter for our next Race and Psychiatry Journal Club meeting!

How did you get to where you are today?

With the constant support of my friends and family, and by being fortunate enough to be part of a team that cares about my development as a researcher and individual.  

Who or what inspires you?

I am continually inspired by all the brilliant DPhil students working alongside me. The DPhil can often feel like a marathon, but witnessing others learn, grow, and hit milestones is what keeps me going. 

I am also inspired by all the voices speaking out about the injustice and inequalities in this world.

If you were not in your study programme currently, what would you like to be doing?

I’d love to write a novel. I used to be an avid writer in school, but lost touch with it over time. Perhaps my research will show me how I can get that spark back!

What is the most important part of your daily routine?

My morning chai and my evening call with family!

Is there a quote or saying that you think everyone should know?

“Intelligence and education that hasn’t been tempered by human affection isn’t worth a damn” – Daniel Keyes, Flowers for Algernon.