Hitasha completed her BSc in Behavioural Neuroscience with a Minor in Law and Society at UBC in 2022. As an undergraduate, she recieved the Science Undergraduate Research Experience Award and Quinn Research Assistantship. She also received the Trainee Professional Development Award from the Society for Neuroscience.
Hitasha is co-supervised by Drs. Kiran Soma and Annie Ciernia for her MSc in Neuroscience. Her research focuses on investigating the effects of early-life stress on local glucocorticoid regulation and gene expression in the brain. She is especially interested in understanding the mechanisms underlying the negative effects of early-life stress and would like to further investigate the role microglia play in local glucocorticoid synthesis. Hitasha received the NSERC CGS-M to support her research.