{"id":137499,"date":"2025-07-08T18:25:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T22:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/?post_type=bu-article&p=137499"},"modified":"2025-08-26T14:57:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T18:57:13","slug":"nikhita-santebennur","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/news-events\/articles\/2025\/nikhita-santebennur\/","title":{"rendered":"Nikhita Santebennur"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
\n\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Portrait\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStudent Researchers<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNikhita Santebennur\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
\n\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
July 8, 2025<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tTwitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\tFacebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n

For fourth-year medical student Nikhita Santebennur, the pursuit of science and research has always been about people.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve always been invested in the overlap and nuance of how science is integrated into the sociocultural context. That is what made medicine a good fit for me. <\/p>Nikhita Santebennur<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been invested in the overlap and nuance of how science is integrated into the sociocultural context. That is what made medicine a good fit for me,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s really about being an advocate for the patient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Santebennur is pursuing a residency in otolaryngology as a head and neck surgeon while serving as the research coordinator for two projects in the Otolaryngology Clinical Outcomes, Assessment, & Technological Innovation Lab<\/a> (OTO-COATI Lab).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The OTO-COATI Lab has developed multiple devices utilizing integrated elastic scattering spectroscopy (ESS) technology that enhances detection of head and neck cancer tissue across various clinical settings. Santebennur is currently coordinating two pilot studies evaluating two different ESS devices: the first is a scanning plate that assesses the deep margins of excised tumors head and neck cancers; the second study evaluates the use of ESS technology in a portable, battery-powered probe that can screen for head and neck cancer in a clinical setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cScreening is an incredibly cost-effective way to reduce the burden of disease in the global health context, especially in areas without the infrastructure to handle complex medical care,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think research is really a great way to funnel your frustrations with the healthcare system, your frustrations with the limitations, into really productive action that can benefit patients and benefit yourself.<\/p>Nikhita Santebennur<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Santebennur is drawn to otolaryngology because of the immediate impact these surgeries have on improving people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s like magic, especially with children, that you can give them the opportunity to hear for the first time, or improve their breathing,\u201d said Santebennur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research, she said, is also about making strides toward better patient care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cI think research is really a great way to funnel your frustrations with the healthcare system, your frustrations with the limitations, into really productive action that can benefit patients and benefit yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For fourth-year medical student Nikhita Santebennur, the pursuit of science and research has always been about people.   I\u2019ve always been invested in the overlap and nuance of how science is integrated into the sociocultural context. That is what made medicine a good fit for me. Nikhita Santebennur \u201cI\u2019ve always been invested in the overlap […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":903,"featured_media":137500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":"Student Researchers"},"tags":[405,457],"bu-publication":[367],"medicine-article-category":[],"medicine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[478],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[390],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/137499"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137499"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/137499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137553,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/137499\/revisions\/137553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137499"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=137499"},{"taxonomy":"medicine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/medicine-article-category?post=137499"},{"taxonomy":"medicine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/medicine-topic?post=137499"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=137499"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=137499"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=137499"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=137499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}