Divya Prasad
DPhil Student
biography
I am a doctoral student working with Drs. Andrea Reinecke and Amy Gillespie. I conduct experimental medicine research that explores the impact of losartan, an angiotensin receptor blocker, on various neurocognitive processes with transdiagnostic relevance for psychiatric disorders. Through this work, I hope to improve our mechanistic understanding of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) in mental health. Eventually, I aspire that this work will improve our knowledge of the etiology of psychiatric disorders, and how we can best treat them and reduce suffering. At the moment, I am funded by the Clarendon scholarship, Department of Psychiatry, and the Oxford BRC.
Prior to embarking on my DPhil at Oxford, I completed my Bachelor of Arts and Sciences with distinction (minor in psychology) and Master of Science in Neuroscience at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada. I conducted research in various clinical and non-clinical domains, specifically studying the relationship between borderline personality features and depressive and anxiety symptoms in perinatal individuals with Dr. Benicio Frey during my MSc. During this time, I published work examining understudied, yet critical topics in women's mental health, such as suicide risk in premenstrual dysphoric disorder and borderline personality disorder during the perinatal period.
Outside of my immediate research, I have enjoyed teaching at Oxford as an experimental psychology tutor, serving on the university's undergraduate admissions panel, and sharing my work (and other psychology-related interests) with the broader community through conferences and scientific writing.