Looking beyond lockdown: PhD student, Comzit Opachaloemphan

Giacomo Mancini continues to explore research life under lockdown, this time from the perspective of New York University School of Medicine and international PhD student, Comzit Opachaloemphan. Together they discuss topics ranging from how the pandemic may impact the completion of Comzit’s PhD to the benefits new online courses provide. For Comzit, although his bench research is temporarily paused, he is not. He pushes forward, looking toward new opportunities to grow and strengthen him for the future.

About Comzit Opachaloemphan:
Comzit Opachaloemphan is an international PhD student from Thailand, where he earned his undergraduate’s degree in Biology. He is currently conducting his PhD study in the lab of Dr. Danny Reinberg in New York University School of Medicine. His research mainly focuses on the Ant epigenetics & rejuvenation. A social hierarchy in most ants is rigid and immutable but in the Indian jumping ant, the caste system is extremely flexible and reversible. An adult ant worker with a short lifespan can differentiate into the reproductive pseudo-queen and gain up to a 5X increase in lifespan. This transition is unique and contradicts the aging dogma in most other animals, which exhibits a trade-off between lifespan and reproduction. His research goal is to find a key to the remarkable aging plasticity.