About Me

“We are here to add what we can to life, not to get what we can from it".
~ William Osler

Nitish Sood
Hey there! I'm Nitish Sood, a medical student at the Medical College of Georgia, interested in doing residency in Ophthalmology!

Academically, I honored all my rotations and was selected for AOA. From a research standpoint, I have 11 peer-reviewed publications and 87 citations since 2020. I am also interested in helping the underserved: I co-founded a national 501(c)(3) and served as Director of Finance for Feed the Frontlines GA, raising $200,000+ for people in need. My hobbies include rock climbing, hiking, 3D printing, and cooking with my girlfriend!
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Projects

“You can do anything you set your mind to.”
~ Benjamin Franklin

Service Leadership


SOAP - Den Bosch

Working Together for Change

Founded 501(c)3 Nonprofit aimed at ending homelessness

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Feed the frontlines

Feed the Frontlines

Director of Finance for nonprofit providing free meals to healthcare workers

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Mals

HackStart

Founded Organization promoting hackathon culture among teens in Atlanta

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Technology & Innovation


InVenture Prize

InVenture Prize

Selected to compete in a state-wide business competition with a $20,000 prize

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CPR Manikin

CPR Manikin

Invented a CPR Manikin to provide real-time feedback to trainees

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Passion Projects


Ted Talk

TedX Talk

Presented about my nonprofit at the Atlanta Beltline TedX

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Ted Talk

TedX Talk

Presented about my nonprofit at the Atlanta Beltline TedX

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Taido Karate

Taido Karate

11 years of practicing, learning, and eventually mentoring Taido Karate

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Fulton County Youth Commission

Fulton County Youth Commission

Worked with Fulton County Elected Officials to target key issues like including education & hunger

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See Some Recent Research Highlights Below!

1 / 3
Figure 2. FDA approach toward predictive functional clustering.
Prevention vs. Promotion-Focus Regulatory Efforts on the Disease Incidence and Mortality of COVID-19: A Multinational Diffusion Study using Functional Data Analysis
Vikas K, Ashish S, Shaphali G, Nitish S.
Journal of International Marketing. October 2020. doi: 10.1177/1069031X20966563
2 / 3
Supplemental Figure 3A. Results of pooled survival analysis
Predictors of Survival for Pediatric Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Sood N, Sangari A, Goyal A, Conway JA.
Medicine. October 2022. PMID: 36181012
3 / 3
Figure 2. BCVA changes over 152 weeks.
Complications, Compliance and 3-Year Outcomes after Endolaserless Vitrectomy with Aflibercept Monotherapy for Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy-Related Vitreous Hemorrhage
V Kasetty, D Starnes, M Moses, N Sood, et al.
Published ahead of print at OSLI Retina.

Experiences

“Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are.”
~ José Ortega y Gasset

Education

Medical College of Georgia

4.0 GPA | Augusta
Medical Student Aug 2020 - May 2024

Augusta University

4.0 GPA | Augusta
Bachelor of Science in Cellular & Molecular Biology Aug 2017 - May 2020

Scholarships: Presidential Scholar (Full Scholarship); Coca-Cola Scholar ($20,000); National Merit Scholar; Carson Scholar

Alpharetta High School

4.0 GPA | Alpharetta
High School Diploma Aug 2013 - May 2017

Social Activism

Feed the Frontlines GA

FeedtheFrontlinesGA.org | GA
Director of Finance Apr 2020 - Oct 2020

Feed the Frontlines GA aims to provide fresh and healthy food to healthcare professionals in hospitals hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. To support local businesses, all of our meals come from local restaurants. As Director of Finance, I led all fundraising initiatives, oversaw all accounting & economic aspects, and managed a fundraising team. Meals Delivered: 6,800+; Raised: ~$100,000. Worked with hospitals & restaurants in Atlanta, Athens, Augusta, Macon, Savannah, and Albany.

Working Together for Change

WorkingTogetherForChange.com/ | Atlanta
Executive Director 2013 - Present

I co-founded and manage Working Together for Change, a national 501(c)3 nonprofit dedicated to ending homelessness. I manage the operations of chapters across the country, while also running the local activities of the Atlanta chapter. WTFC has now mobilized 600+ volunteers for 3,000+ homeless over 17,000 service hours!

HackStart

HackStart.me/ | Atlanta
Co-Founder Jul 2015 - Jul 2017

I co-founded HackStart in order to promote digital literacy among teenagers in Atlanta. We have fundraised $5,000+, helping 300+ students learn programming from experienced mentors and professionals

Research

“Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are.”
~ José Ortega y Gasset

Publications


    Predictors of Survival for Pediatric Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

    Sood N, Sangari A, Goyal A, Conway JA.
    Medicine. October 2022. PMID: 36181012

    Evolution of Intracranial-Intracranial Bypass Surgery: A Bibliometric Analysis

    Reddy VP, Seas A, Sood N, Srinivasan VM, Catapano JS, Lawton MT.
    World Neurosurg. 2022;162:177-182.e9. doi:10.1016/j.wneu.2022.02.116

    Impact of Price Transparency on Patient Relationships in an Outpatient Surgical Center

    Reddy V, Sood N, Hua J, Kaplan J, Postoev A, Ibikunle C.
    Journal on Surgery. March 2020. Available here:

    A Retrospective Analysis of Weight Loss Associated with the ORBERA Intragastric Balloon at a Single Bariatric Center

    Reddy V, Sood N, Hua J, Ibikunle C.
    Global Surgery. March 2020. doi: 10.15761/GOS.1000217

    Prevention vs. Promotion-Focus Regulatory Efforts on the Disease Incidence and Mortality of COVID-19: A Multinational Diffusion Study using Functional Data Analysis

    Vikas K, Ashish S, Shaphali G, Nitish S.
    Journal of International Marketing. October 2020. doi: 10.1177/1069031X20966563

    High-risk Neuroblastoma Predisposing to Osteomyelitis: A Case Study

    Vamsi R, Clive M, Nitish S, Benjamin D S.
    Surgical Medicine Open Access Journal. November 2020. doi: 10.31031/SMOAJ.2020.03.000570

Publications Accepted Ahead of Press


    Complications, Compliance and 3-Year Outcomes after Endolaserless Vitrectomy with Aflibercept Monotherapy for Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy-Related Vitreous Hemorrhage

    V Kasetty, D Starnes, M Moses, N Sood, et al.
    Under Review at OSLI Retina.

    Influence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) on Non-Variceal Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding Hospitalizations (NVUGIB) in the United States: A nationwide analysis

    A Soni, A Yekula, Y Singh, N Sood, et al.
    Under Review at World Journal of Hepatology.

Publications Under Review


    Impact of In-hospital Statin Use on Mortality in COVID-19 Patients from a Majority African American Population

    N Sood, et al.
    Under Review at Journal of Heart & Lung.

    The Cost and Benefits of Lockdowns in Response to COVID-19: Learnings from a Natural Experiment across United States

    G Tellis, A Sood, N Sood, S Nair.
    Under Review at Journal of Public Policy and Marketing.

    Identifying the Privacy Risks of Semi-Anonymous Online Medical Forums: Content Analysis

    A Sangari, A Sood, M Horinek, A Sangari, N Sood, et al.
    Under Review at JMIR Infodemiology

Published Abstracts


    First Author
    Comparing the Efficacy of Real-Time Audiovisual Feedback Devices and Active Compression-Decompression Devices in Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest: A Network Meta-Analysis

    Nitish S, Anish S, Joseph H.
    November 2020. Circulation.

    Role of CD28 Signaling on T cell Phenotype following Lymphodepletion and Homeostatic Reconstitution

    Nitish S, R. Crepeau, & M. Ford.
    April 2020. Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.09243

    How Long Should Social Distancing Last? Predicting Time to Moderation, Control, and Containment of COVID-19

    Nitish S, Gerry T, Ashish S.
    June 2020. M. Science. Abstract available here.

    Sequence Analysis of Homologous Alu Elements: A Novel Methodology for Primate Phylogenetic Tree Construction

    Nitish S, Mehul M, Anav M, Christopher B.
    April 2020. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.09578

    Second Author
    Quantifying the Effect of Technological Advancements and Guidelines on Pediatric Extracorporeal Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Survival Outcomes

    Anish S, Nitish S, Joseph H.
    November 2020. Circulation.

    Using Alu Elements to Identify Orthologous Chromosomes Across Primates

    Mehul M, Nitish S, Anav M, Christopher B.
    April 2020. Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. doi.org/10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.09934

    Why Did US Governors Delay Lockdowns COVID-19? Disease Penetration vs Learning, Cascades, and Political Polarization

    Ashish S, Nitish S, Gerry T.
    June 2020. M. Science. Abstract available here.


    Third Author or More
    Price of Delay in COVID-19 Lockdowns: Delays Spike Total Cases, Natural Experiments Reveal

    Gerry T, Ashish S, Nitish S.
    June 2020. M. Science. Abstract available here.

Media Coverage


Multiple national news outlets have covered my research. Bloomberg covered my research on the decision making processed used by Governors when they locked down the states. Yahoo Finance has covered multiple of my articles, linked here, here, and here. In addition, my research has been covered by Phys.org, Medical Xpress, Neuroscience News, COVID19Data.com, MSN, and others.

In addition, as of April 20th 2020, I had papers in SSRN's Top 10 Download List in the following categories: (1) the Medical Research Network, Medical Specialities eJournal, Human Health & Disease eJournal, Health Economics eJournal, Interdisciplinary Coronavirus & Infectious Disease Related Research, Political Economy: National, State, & Local Governnment; Intergovernmental Relations eJournal, Government Expenditures & Health, and National State & Local Government: Health Education & Welfare.

As of April 20th 2020, my paper is the most downloaded paper of all time on SSRN in Government Expenditures & Health.

Presentations (17)


  • Ophthalmology, Medical College of Georgia
    • Title: “Risk Factors for the Development of Retinopathy of Prematurity – A National Analysis”
    • Oral Presentation: American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (Apr 2023)
    • Oral Presentation: Culver Vision Discovery Institute Savannah River Eye Meeting (Mar 2023)
    • Title: “Evaluating Publishing Guidelines and Clinical Trial Registry Requirements Among Ophthalmology Journals”
    • Poster Presentation: Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (Apr 2023)
    • Poster Presentation: Georgia Society of Ophthalmology GEM Conference (Feb 2023)
  • Immunology, Emory School of Medicine
    • Title: “Impact of Selective CD28 Blockade on T Cell Phenotypes of Lymphopenic Mice”
    • Poster Presentations (2): Experimental Biology (Mar 2020); Division of KUH Diseases Summer Research Meeting (Aug 2019)
    • Oral Presentations (1): Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (Nov 2019)
  • Infectious Diseases, Medical College of Georgia
    • Title: "How Long Should Social Distancing Last? Predicting Time to Moderation, Control, and Containment of COVID-19"
    • Title: "Why Did US Governors Delay Lockdowns Against COVID-19? Disease Penetration vs Learning, Cascades, and Political Polarization"
    • Title: "Price of Delay in COVID-19 Lockdowns: Delays Spike Total Cases, Natural Experiments Reveal"
    • Oral Presentations (3): M. Science (June 2020)
  • Computational Genomics, Independent Research
    • Title: “Sequence Analysis of Alu Repeated Elements for Primate Phylogenetic Tree Construction”
    • Title: “Alu-based Orthologous Chromosome Classification of the Order Primates”
    • Poster Presentations (3): Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (Nov 2019); Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (Nov 2019); Phi Kappa Phi Student Research Conference (Mar 2019)
  • Otolaryngology, Medical College of Georgia
    • Title: "The Prevalence of Head and Neck Injuries in Contact Sports in the Pediatrics Population Before, During, and Post COVID-19 Lockdown"
    • Poster Presentation: American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology (May 2023)
  • Biomedical Device Construction, Independent Research
    • Title: “Enhancing CPR Training: Development and Analysis of an Affordable Real-Time Feedback Manikin”
    • Oral Presentations (3): Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (Nov 2019); Augusta University Center of Undergraduate Research (Nov 2019); Phi Kappa Phi Student Research Conference (Mar 2019)
    • Poster Presentations (2): Posters at the State Capitol (Mar 2019), Medical College of Georgia’s Ignite the Dream (Feb 2019)
  • Cardiovascular Genetics, Morehouse School of Medicine
    • Title: “Identification of IRX3 associated Transcription Factors ADORA2A, CYR61, DKK1, and EP300 during VEGF-Induced Endothelial Cell Angiogenesis”
    • Poster Presentations (2): Morehouse School of Medicine (Jul 2015) & Fulton County Science Fair (Jan 2017)
  • Bioinformatics, Emory School of Medicine
    • Title: “A Single Cell Approach to Flow Cytometry Data Analysis”
    • Poster Presentations (1): Emory University Summer Undergraduate Program in Renal Research Conference (Aug 2019)
  • General Surgery, Georgia Surgicare, Ideal Body Institute
    • Title: “The Utility of “BuildMyBod” Price Transparency Tool in Surgical Practice”
    • Oral Presentations (1): RealSelf University Podcast (Oct 2019)

Research Experience


Emory Internship

May 2019 - August 2019

Summer Research Fellow in Immunology I worked in the Ford Lab at Emory University to determine the efficacy of Lulizumab, an anti-CD28 domain antibody, at reducing graft rejection rates compared to the current standard of care: calcineurin inhibitors. I analyzed flow cytometry data to determine the likely mechanism of action of anti-CD28 domain antibodies using expression of cellular markers and developed a pipeline for flow cytometry analysis using unsupervised machine-learing algorithms in conjuction with traditional manual gating methods. I was sponsored to present my research at Experimental Biology 2020. Emory University | Open Access Abstract

Independent Research

2018 - Present

Computational Genomics I developed a novel, inexpensive, and time-efficient tool for identification of chromosomal-level mutations between two primate organisms. In addition to potential applications in genetic screenings and specific cancer mutation identifications, this work has additional applications in Non-Human Primate Genetic studies, & Phylogenetics. Augusta University | Open Access Abstract 1 | Open Access Abstract 2

Biomedical Engineering/ Emergency Medicine

2018 - Present

Research Fellow I designed and manufactured a CPR manikin that provides real-time feedback on critical metrics including force, rate, & interruptions in chest compressions, degree of chest recoil, ventilation volume & rate, and airway tilt angle. I won competitive grants from Chemistry/Physics Department and Center of UG Research and Scholarship and am currently running IRB-approved study designed to compare efficacy of training on different real-time feedback manikins. Augusta University | Open Access Abstract

Department of Neurology, MCG

Oct 2018 - May 2019

Research Fellow I worked under Dr. Hess, Dean of MCG, and Dr. Khan, Research-scientist in Department of Neurology, on first-aid treatments for stroke victims. I helped implement a project testing whether Remote Ischemic Conditioning is an effective treatment for Vascular Cognitive Impairment Disorder using a murine model. Augusta University

Morehouse School of Medicine

May 2014 - August 2014

Research Assistant I helped the Anderson Lab conduct a Chromatin Immunoprecipitation with a DNA Microarray to determine genomic regulation of blood vessel creation (angiogenesis). I utilized bioinformatics programs to analyze the results and determined four new genes as potential genetic treatments for over 40 diseases including strokes, heart attacks, cancer, and even arthritis. Using this information, we identified novel functions for 4 genes. Atlanta | Poster

Awards

“Life without knowledge is death in disguise.”
~ Talib Kweli

Academic

Volunteering

Contact

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. ”
~ Henry Ford

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