Name: Dr Aditya Borakati

Connection to the Academy: INSPIRE participant; Medical student at University of York

"I was awarded an INSPIRE bursary to conduct a research project in the summer of third year ... I felt like I was making a difference and doing something impactful in the long term."

What is your current role / stage in training?

I am an Academic Foundation Doctor at the Royal Free Hospital and University College London. I am conducting research in hepatopancreatobiliary and renal surgery and transplantation. This programme allows me to do basic clinical training as a doctor whilst also conducting research and developing as a researcher.

How and when did you first hear about INSPIRE?

INSPIRE was advertised by my medical school and I signed up in my 3rd year of medical school. I was awarded an INSPIRE bursary to conduct a research project in the summer of third year. I did this project on oesophageal cancer staging and identification of prognostic indicators.

How did INSPIRE support your research interests?

I first got involved with research during my intercalated degree, where my project was on developing a novel maxillofacial prosthesis, which could chemically bond with facial tissues. I found this fascinating and very rewarding. I felt like I was making a difference and doing something impactful in the long term. I had a great supervisor who was very supportive and gave me a lot of leeway in directing the project.

I’ve been lucky enough to present and travel widely as a result of my research, going all across the UK and to most of Europe to conferences and other meetings. This has been brilliant in terms of meeting many people from all over the world and seeing the cutting edge of medicine and the difference it can make. This has all reinforced my desire to continue with research alongside my medical career.

I authored 6 publications during my time at medical school, of which 2 were related to my INSPIRE project. I had a number of presentations, both oral and poster at medical school and received a prize from my medical school for having one of the best INSPIRE research projects. In addition, I was heavily involved with collaborative surgical research during my undergraduate career and was on the steering committee of a large collaborative group. Consequently, I also published a number of collaborative publications, with some as primary author.

I have continued to carry out research as a doctor and have taken on opportunities in all of my clinical rotations regardless of whether they are directly relevant to my research interests. As a result, I have 3 papers published/ in press in orthopaedics, obstetrics and psychiatry with a number of presentations also.

What are your future plans?

I will be starting an Academic Clinical Fellowship in General Surgery in London, enabling me to combine clinical training with research. I hope to become an academic surgeon in the future and build on my interests in regenerative medicine, biotechnology and transplantation.