Nekesa Oliver
PhD Candidate
Nekesa C. Oliver is currently a Russel G. Hamilton Scholar in the Department of Chemistry at Vanderbilt University. She joined the RASR Lab in 2020 as a Research Assistant II before transitioning into the PhD program in 2022. She specializes in bioanalytical instrumentation and has a passion for building bridges
between science and the community.
Nekesa’s research focuses on hypertension (high blood pressure) and its high prevalence in America.
Her current project uses quantitative proteomics to establish the molecular signature of
hypertension in AAs and is a major part of the Proteomics of Hypertension and Alzheimer’s Disease in
AAs (PrHADAA) grant in the RASR Lab. She aims to help discover diagnostic biomarkers for hypertension
by observing the protein expressions of blood plasma from normotensive and hypertensive AAs and
comparing the amounts of protein seen in the two groups.
Nekesa is passionate about this work
because hypertension has no obvious symptoms to indicate that something is wrong. How great it
would be to contribute to better diagnostics for hypertension, especially in her own community!