Completed Event: Women's Tennis versus Fall Foliage Fest on September 26, 2025 ,
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Women's Tennis
vs Fall Foliage Fest
Researching Today to Help People Tomorrow
7/27/2023 12:00:00 PM | Women's Tennis, Peak Performance
Through two years at Dartmouth, Ujvala Jupalli of the women's tennis team is making her mark on not only the college, but also society as a whole.
One example has come this summer, as she is completing a summer undergraduate research internship with a pediatric rheumatologist at the University of Iowa.
"We are studying the cellular mechanisms of an autoimmune disease called Sjögren's syndrome," said Jupalli. "With the syndrome, there's a lot of inflammation in the lacrimal and salivary glands resulting in extreme dry eye and extreme dry mouth, such that you sometimes can't even swallow food.
"It's a hard syndrome to live with."
Jupalli is part of a research team that is studying how the syndrome's autoimmunity works.
"We study a lot of different T cells and B cells, and how they affect and cause inflammation in these glands," she said.
The morning after finishing at Dartmouth for the 2022-23 academic year, Jupalli was on a plane to Iowa. The program concludes at the end of this week and featured a poster presentation on Wednesday.
"We presented all of our research and a number of people were there, hearing about our research and asking us questions," she said.
Jupalli is working under a principal investigator (PI), who is her mentor. She is one of a team of researchers who are using a mouse model.
"We use some of their organs, like their cervical lymph nodes or their spleens, because they tend to contain a lot of lymphocytes," said Jupalli. "Then we stain them with different types of fluorescent-conjugated antibodies. These are primary antibodies that have fluorescent markers attached to them and they will bind to specific proteins. We're looking to see if they're on either the exterior or interior of the cell. We stain these cells with these antibodies, and then run that sample through flow cytometry to see how much of that protein is present."
Jupalli and the other researchers are looking to understand the cellular mechanisms behind the disease, which in turn will help in developing treatments for Sjögren's.
"There currently isn't anything to help with the syndrome except for eye drops," she said. "It's not a disease that a lot of people study. There haven't been many papers on it, which is why we need to do a lot more research."
Jupalli's research opportunity arose through a conversation with HPP at Dartmouth (Health Professions Program), Dartmouth's academic advising program to assist and support undergraduates and alumni interested in pursuing careers in medicine or other health professions.
"I was looking for internships and HPP suggested to look at schools because they offer a lot of research programs over the summer," said Jupalli. "I went digging through their website and found this database with a bunch of programs all over the U.S. I applied to a bunch, got recommendation letters from professors I've had in the past and got into this one at the University of Iowa.
"My mom actually lived in Iowa City a little more than 20 years ago and said I would really love the city, so I decided to try it out," Jupalli continued. "I really like it."
Jupalli likes what she gets to do every day. Her average day includes plenty of time in the lab doing experiments, along with data analysis at a computer.
"If we have a huge experiment, we will go through the whole experiment that day," she said. "It depends on what we're doing. Sometimes, you'll have a late night. Fridays, we also have lab meetings, so we meet with another lab group, and present and talk about our research."
Ironically, Jupalli wasn't even into science when she started at Dartmouth just two years ago.
"I took human biology with Professor Lee Witters very randomly my freshman fall," she said. "It was such an amazing class and it made me want to study the human body more."
Jupalli grew up very interested in math. Combine her previous math interests with her new science interests, she found herself in Iowa using both of those disciplines to the fullest.
"Coming into Dartmouth, I was thinking about economics and psychology too," said Jupalli. "I thought psych was really interesting. I did take psych 1 my freshman fall and enjoyed it. I liked learning about the mechanisms behind psychology a lot more than the social aspect of it. And although I will probably take more psych classes in my future, I didn't love it enough for it to be my major."
Jupalli's major ended up being math modified with biology.
"I decided why not just combine the two?" she said. "I also realized research has a lot of math involved. Setting up experiments, we have to figure out concentrations and ratios. It's really coming in handy."
Also coming in handy for Jupalli has been her Dartmouth experience, both on and off the tennis courts.
"Dartmouth has been more than I ever thought it could be," she said. "I didn't realize how much I would grow as a person. My teammates are positive influences on me, and they've really taught me about standing up for myself, speaking my mind and things like that. Coming in, I was very quiet and shy. They're really helping me break out of my shell."
A native of Parsippany, New Jersey, Jupalli is stepping outside of her comfort zone this summer in the Midwest.
"Hanover is completely different from Iowa City," she said. "There are a lot more options to eat and places to go in Iowa City.
"And it's faster."
Jupalli has greatly enjoyed herself in Iowa City, but at the same time, has developed an even greater appreciation of Hanover (which was already highly regarded).
"I really, really love Hanover and I feel so safe and fortunate that I get to be in an area like that because it's also a beautiful place," she said.
That place, Dartmouth, brings a different type of "fast".
"The academics at Dartmouth go fast," said Jupalli. "But people will stop on the street and say hi. Or you'll have a conversation with other people randomly if you're walking on campus."
As a Dartmouth student-athlete, Jupalli has learned a lot that has translated to her life. Her summer as a researcher is the perfect example of the impact Dartmouth has already made on her.
"College tennis has taught me so much," said Jupalli. "I can't even quantify how much I've learned from being on Dartmouth women's tennis. Not only just teamwork, but also being a dependable team member. Also, the amount I have improved in time management since I first came to Dartmouth has been tremendous."
Jupalli has also learned the importance of being dependable, crediting head coach Bob Dallis on instilling that value.
"I have learned about being reliable and someone you can depend on," she said. "I really value other people's time. We always talk about showing up on time, or showing up early, which I've taken everywhere in my life."
Whether it's on the tennis court, in the lab or in the office, certain things are true no matter the setting.
"It's important to make sure you acknowledge when someone does something well, but also be comfortable with telling someone when you think they can step it up," said Jupalli. "That's something I've learned through Dartmouth women's tennis, which is very valuable."
Jupalli's summer at the University of Iowa has been valuable and fulfilling.
"I see knowledge as a superpower," she said. "Research is about gaining knowledge all the time. I see it as an opportunity to increase my knowledge on a subject, all while helping people."
The summer is helping Jupalli zero in on what she ultimately wants to do post-graduation. Luckily for her, she has time to firm up any plans, with two years at Dartmouth still remaining.
"I'm really considering applying to Iowa for grad school, for my MD PHD, but I'm not entirely sure," said Jupalli. "Immunology was one of my interests coming into the summer, and I'm definitely still interested in something like this. I'm also interested in genetics, such as studying how genetic expression could lead to different types of autoimmune diseases."
The past several weeks have opened Jupalli's eyes to the possibilities within research.
"It's something I want to do, but I don't think I would do it full time because one thing I don't like about research is the lack of human interaction," she said. "This summer, I've had some interactions, but I want to see patients. I like that aspect of health care.
"I have shadowed doctors in the past and think I would really enjoy seeing patients."
People have been at the center of Jupalli's mind every day this summer.
"I really love the fact that I'm helping people," she said. "The research I'm doing right now is going to directly impact people who are struggling with Sjögren's.
"And that inspires me every day."
One example has come this summer, as she is completing a summer undergraduate research internship with a pediatric rheumatologist at the University of Iowa.
"We are studying the cellular mechanisms of an autoimmune disease called Sjögren's syndrome," said Jupalli. "With the syndrome, there's a lot of inflammation in the lacrimal and salivary glands resulting in extreme dry eye and extreme dry mouth, such that you sometimes can't even swallow food.
"It's a hard syndrome to live with."
Jupalli is part of a research team that is studying how the syndrome's autoimmunity works.
"We study a lot of different T cells and B cells, and how they affect and cause inflammation in these glands," she said.
The morning after finishing at Dartmouth for the 2022-23 academic year, Jupalli was on a plane to Iowa. The program concludes at the end of this week and featured a poster presentation on Wednesday.
"We presented all of our research and a number of people were there, hearing about our research and asking us questions," she said.
Jupalli is working under a principal investigator (PI), who is her mentor. She is one of a team of researchers who are using a mouse model.
"We use some of their organs, like their cervical lymph nodes or their spleens, because they tend to contain a lot of lymphocytes," said Jupalli. "Then we stain them with different types of fluorescent-conjugated antibodies. These are primary antibodies that have fluorescent markers attached to them and they will bind to specific proteins. We're looking to see if they're on either the exterior or interior of the cell. We stain these cells with these antibodies, and then run that sample through flow cytometry to see how much of that protein is present."
Jupalli and the other researchers are looking to understand the cellular mechanisms behind the disease, which in turn will help in developing treatments for Sjögren's.
"There currently isn't anything to help with the syndrome except for eye drops," she said. "It's not a disease that a lot of people study. There haven't been many papers on it, which is why we need to do a lot more research."
Jupalli's research opportunity arose through a conversation with HPP at Dartmouth (Health Professions Program), Dartmouth's academic advising program to assist and support undergraduates and alumni interested in pursuing careers in medicine or other health professions.
"I was looking for internships and HPP suggested to look at schools because they offer a lot of research programs over the summer," said Jupalli. "I went digging through their website and found this database with a bunch of programs all over the U.S. I applied to a bunch, got recommendation letters from professors I've had in the past and got into this one at the University of Iowa.
"My mom actually lived in Iowa City a little more than 20 years ago and said I would really love the city, so I decided to try it out," Jupalli continued. "I really like it."
Jupalli likes what she gets to do every day. Her average day includes plenty of time in the lab doing experiments, along with data analysis at a computer.
"If we have a huge experiment, we will go through the whole experiment that day," she said. "It depends on what we're doing. Sometimes, you'll have a late night. Fridays, we also have lab meetings, so we meet with another lab group, and present and talk about our research."
Ironically, Jupalli wasn't even into science when she started at Dartmouth just two years ago.
"I took human biology with Professor Lee Witters very randomly my freshman fall," she said. "It was such an amazing class and it made me want to study the human body more."
Jupalli grew up very interested in math. Combine her previous math interests with her new science interests, she found herself in Iowa using both of those disciplines to the fullest.
"Coming into Dartmouth, I was thinking about economics and psychology too," said Jupalli. "I thought psych was really interesting. I did take psych 1 my freshman fall and enjoyed it. I liked learning about the mechanisms behind psychology a lot more than the social aspect of it. And although I will probably take more psych classes in my future, I didn't love it enough for it to be my major."
Jupalli's major ended up being math modified with biology.
"I decided why not just combine the two?" she said. "I also realized research has a lot of math involved. Setting up experiments, we have to figure out concentrations and ratios. It's really coming in handy."
Also coming in handy for Jupalli has been her Dartmouth experience, both on and off the tennis courts.
"Dartmouth has been more than I ever thought it could be," she said. "I didn't realize how much I would grow as a person. My teammates are positive influences on me, and they've really taught me about standing up for myself, speaking my mind and things like that. Coming in, I was very quiet and shy. They're really helping me break out of my shell."
A native of Parsippany, New Jersey, Jupalli is stepping outside of her comfort zone this summer in the Midwest.
"Hanover is completely different from Iowa City," she said. "There are a lot more options to eat and places to go in Iowa City.
"And it's faster."
Jupalli has greatly enjoyed herself in Iowa City, but at the same time, has developed an even greater appreciation of Hanover (which was already highly regarded).
"I really, really love Hanover and I feel so safe and fortunate that I get to be in an area like that because it's also a beautiful place," she said.
That place, Dartmouth, brings a different type of "fast".
"The academics at Dartmouth go fast," said Jupalli. "But people will stop on the street and say hi. Or you'll have a conversation with other people randomly if you're walking on campus."
As a Dartmouth student-athlete, Jupalli has learned a lot that has translated to her life. Her summer as a researcher is the perfect example of the impact Dartmouth has already made on her.
"College tennis has taught me so much," said Jupalli. "I can't even quantify how much I've learned from being on Dartmouth women's tennis. Not only just teamwork, but also being a dependable team member. Also, the amount I have improved in time management since I first came to Dartmouth has been tremendous."
Jupalli has also learned the importance of being dependable, crediting head coach Bob Dallis on instilling that value.
"I have learned about being reliable and someone you can depend on," she said. "I really value other people's time. We always talk about showing up on time, or showing up early, which I've taken everywhere in my life."
Whether it's on the tennis court, in the lab or in the office, certain things are true no matter the setting.
"It's important to make sure you acknowledge when someone does something well, but also be comfortable with telling someone when you think they can step it up," said Jupalli. "That's something I've learned through Dartmouth women's tennis, which is very valuable."
Jupalli's summer at the University of Iowa has been valuable and fulfilling.
"I see knowledge as a superpower," she said. "Research is about gaining knowledge all the time. I see it as an opportunity to increase my knowledge on a subject, all while helping people."
The summer is helping Jupalli zero in on what she ultimately wants to do post-graduation. Luckily for her, she has time to firm up any plans, with two years at Dartmouth still remaining.
"I'm really considering applying to Iowa for grad school, for my MD PHD, but I'm not entirely sure," said Jupalli. "Immunology was one of my interests coming into the summer, and I'm definitely still interested in something like this. I'm also interested in genetics, such as studying how genetic expression could lead to different types of autoimmune diseases."
The past several weeks have opened Jupalli's eyes to the possibilities within research.
"It's something I want to do, but I don't think I would do it full time because one thing I don't like about research is the lack of human interaction," she said. "This summer, I've had some interactions, but I want to see patients. I like that aspect of health care.
"I have shadowed doctors in the past and think I would really enjoy seeing patients."
People have been at the center of Jupalli's mind every day this summer.
"I really love the fact that I'm helping people," she said. "The research I'm doing right now is going to directly impact people who are struggling with Sjögren's.
"And that inspires me every day."
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
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