Shriya Tanti’s Adventurous Approach to Life and Science
– Shriya Tanti
When medical school student Shriya Tanti first came to the U.S. with her family from India when she was in sixth grade, she didn’t speak any English. Overcoming that and other challenges helped shape the adventurous, and somewhat fearless person she is today.
Tanti remembers her high school anatomy class, where she discovered that dissection was “really cool.” That realization started her on a path toward a career in medicine. She later majored in neuroscience at Georgia State and began doing some research. She took a gap year preparing for medical school, working at a pain clinic–her first “big girl, nine-to-five” job–where she found herself on the front lines of the opioid crisis. She’s now in her fourth year of medical school at Morehouse in Atlanta, applying for residencies in anesthesia, including U-M.
Tanti considered culinary school because she has always loved cooking but felt limited as a vegetarian, since there are virtually no vegetarian culinary schools in the U.S., but it is still a passion she enjoys. Another escape from her intense medical school studies is listening to true crime podcasts and documentaries.
Other hobbies reveal her adventurous, adrenaline junkie side, including sky diving, white water rafting, and parasailing. Despite a fear of the water, she is setting her sights on cliff diving next. “Whenever I do have a little bit of time, I feel I have to go all in,” says Tanti. “After coming to the U.S. as the oldest in my family and having to find my own way, variety and adventure come second nature to me now. I actually enjoy and embrace uncertainty in life.”
Tanti feels fortunate to have been paired with Susan Woolford, MD, MPH, assistant professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases and faculty lead of MICHR’s Summer Immersion Program, where students are engaged in translational and health disparities research and inspired to choose a career focused on research. Dr. Woolford mentored and challenged her to get published on something related to the pandemic. She accepted her challenge (“I will be that person!”) as a first-year medical student and two years later, she was lead author, along with Dr. Woolford and several other MICHR staff and community partners, of “Parental perspectives regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their children,” published in Childhood Obesity and presented at conferences. This early accomplishment has opened doors for her and should help her stand out from the crowd as she applies for residencies.
Her current research involves thrombosis rates in neonates undergoing cardiac surgery, identifying risk factors and interventions to help them. Having already completed a manuscript with MICHR’s help has built up her confidence and encouraged her to step further beyond her comfort zone into different areas of research, which she is really enjoying. “I don’t feel I have to do it, now I do research because I want to do it.” Tanti is also interested in pursuing an acute pain regional fellowship after residency.
As she pursues anesthesiology with her newfound passion for research, she is already coming full circle from that first job at the pain clinic. Tanti is particularly interested in studying post-surgical pain. “The assumption with a laparoscopic approach to surgery is that pain will be lower so less pain medications are provided, which may result in patients experiencing more pain than after an open surgical procedure where more pain meds are provided post-surgery,” she explains. “After my neonatal thrombosis project, I want to pursue an acute pain project to find safe new ways to provide relief for patients and positively impact their lifestyle.”