Jai Shanata

Jai Shanata '05 made a smooth transition from Cornell to Cal Tech, one of the world's top scientific research universities.  Now in his third year of graduate school in chemistry, Shanata says Cornell prepared him well in math, as well as in the sciences.

"In my graduate career, I use math and statistics on a regular basis—to develop models, acquire and plot data, as well as in a variety of manners to analyze data," he says. "In particular, I often use matrix algebra, which I learned in my linear algebra class with Steve Bean."

Shanata's research group studies ion channels in the brain, giving insights into how neurons communicate.

"Ion channels mediate the communication in our brain that is responsible for memory and learning phenomena, as well as sensory perception," he says. "Moreover, ion channels are drug targets for treatment of a wide variety of diseases and disorders, including schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease."

His research focuses specifically on a particular ion channel -- the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor -- in hopes that their studies may help to better understand nicotine addiction.

Shanata, who added a philosophy major to his chemistry and biochemistry/molecular biology majors, believes that Cornell's One-Course-At-A-Time system gave him a solid foundation in science, math, and many other areas.

"The ability to focus long-term on a single problem and to enjoy it all-the-while … give Cornell alumni a distinct advantage when confronting the idea of working exhaustively on one (or at most a few) projects over a 4-6 year period during a Ph.D. program."