Student Spotlight: Jatin Narang

On the heels of a short-lived basketball career his freshman year of high school, Jatin Narang (’22) took his talents to the cross-country team, with the sole goal of staying in shape. He never expected that, 10 years later, he would win the title of top D.C. area finisher in the 2015 Boston Marathon, and to travel to cities like Tokyo, New York and, most recently, Toronto and Chicago, to run. Of all the races under his belt, the Germantown, Md., native was most fond of Boston’s. “It’s the one race that people actually come out to cheer for all 26.2 miles. It’s unreal,” he says.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic put a temporary pause on traveling for marathons, it provided Jatin with a pivotal research opportunity in his preferred field of dermatology. In March 2020, he decided to table his already-approved thesis to investigate the pathophysiology and clinical impact of the skin manifestation of coronavirus, under the direction Anthony Fernandez, MD, PhD, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, and Christine McDonald, PhD, Assistant Professor of Molecular Medicine.

The project, which is now in its final stages, involves examining patients’ cell and humoral signaling pathways as they correlate to COVID-19-induced skin lesions. Jatin says, “We didn’t know exactly what we were getting ourselves into, since the disease was so novel. But it was a unique opportunity, and we went for it.”

Since then, Jatin secured grant funding from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health and the Case Western Reserve University Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative. “Ultimately, we would like to be able to use the skin as a biomarker to assess the severity of COVID-19 infections,” he says.

CCLCM’s emphasis on research, small class sizes and culture of mentorship stood out to Jatin when he was applying to post-graduate programs. But his favorite part of living in Cleveland (besides having less traffic than Maryland!) is the proximity and collaboration between University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Clinic.

For the past year and a half, Jatin has been part of a student research group within University Hospital’s Department of Dermatology. Within the group, Jatin is analyzing residency match processes and has published several articles about his findings. “Since dermatology has historically been a very competitive specialty to match with, we’ve been looking at trends in the applicant pools and how it affects both the programs and the candidates themselves,” he says.

Jatin will graduate with both an MD and MS in Clinical Research in May 2022 and is preparing to apply for dermatology residency next year. His ideal career, he says, is to conduct translational research while also teaching and being involved with curriculum development for medical students.

Prior to medical school, Jatin immersed himself in several research initiatives, expanding on his undergraduate biochemistry studies at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and also working as a research technician at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Md.

Jatin’s favorite running routes in Cleveland are the Cultural Gardens and anywhere along Lake Erie. In his spare time, he also enjoys cooking and hanging out with his classmates and girlfriend.