UNandUP Intern Spotlight: Meet Tarini Karnati
At UNandUP, we believe the future of healthcare innovation is shaped by passionate students who are eager to learn, collaborate, and make a meaningful impact. We're especially proud when interns choose to continue that journey with us.
This summer, we're excited to welcome back Tarini Karnati, a rising junior at Saint Louis University majoring in Biomedical Engineering with minors in Robotics and Business Technology Management. As a returning intern, Tarini brings curiosity, focus, and a passion for solving healthcare challenges through engineering as she continues contributing to the TheraLode™ team.
Although Tarini initially entered college planning to pursue medicine, her experiences through biomedical engineering coursework and research helped her realize she could make an even greater impact as an engineer. She found fulfillment in designing and developing solutions to healthcare challenges, and the opportunity to create technologies that improve patient outcomes on a broader scale is what ultimately drew her toward medical innovation.
Tarini returned to UNandUP because of the company's mission to improve healthcare access for underserved populations. Introduced to the company by a previous intern, she immediately connected with its vision. Inspired by Saint Louis University's Jesuit mission of service, she is excited to continue contributing to meaningful healthcare innovation.
This summer, Tarini is especially interested in exploring drug delivery for stroke treatment. Through her research in Dr. Zustiak's lab and her work with the TheraLode™ team, she is gaining valuable exposure to research and development, product development, and the fast-paced world of medical device startups.
She hopes to strengthen the technical skills that complement her engineering education while learning how innovative ideas become real-world healthcare solutions. She is particularly interested in entrepreneurship and ultimately hopes to become a well-rounded engineer who combines technical expertise with innovation to improve healthcare on a larger scale.
One experience Tarini is especially proud of is being part of CountKit through SLULaunch, where her team developed a business plan for a redesigned QBC device intended for developing countries. The team later won the pitch competition at the annual SLU SSE Showcase, an experience that strengthened her interest in startups and global medical device innovation.
Outside of engineering, Tarini is a self-described serial hobbyist. She enjoys sketching, painting, embroidery, jewelry making, sewing, and many other creative crafts. She also spent ten years playing the viola and performed with the Saint Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra during her senior year of high school. When she's not creating, she enjoys watching Formula 1 and exploring new restaurants with friends.
After graduation, Tarini hopes to continue building her expertise in biomedical engineering with a focus on medical devices and robotics through graduate studies and additional industry experience.
Tarini’s beautiful art collection!