The Cincinnati Police Department is searching for the person responsible for the death of a 26-year-old University of Cincinnati doctoral student who was shot on Nov. 9.
CPD said officers were dispatched to the Western Hills Viaduct around 6:20 a.m. for reports of an “auto accident and a person shot.” The responding officers found Aaditya Adlakha, 26, suffering from a gunshot wound inside his car. He was transported to UC Medical Center where he died from his injuries on Nov. 11.
His death is being investigated as a homicide, according to a Nov. 13 report from the Hamilton County coroner.
A “transformative” researcher
According to UC, Adlakha was born in India and received his bachelor’s degree in zoology in 2018 from the University of Delhi in New Delhi before earning his master’s degree in physiology from All India Institute of Medical Sciences in 2020. He was a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in UC’s Molecular and Development Biology graduate program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital when he died. He was also the Graduate Student Government president for UC’s Health Sciences department.
UC said Adlakha worked in the lab of Michael Jankowski in the anesthesiology department in the division of pain management at Cincinnati Children’s.
“He was much-loved, exceedingly kind and humorous, intelligent and sharp, whose research was described as novel and transformative,” reads a Nov. 13 news release from UC Medical College. “The focus of his work was to better understand neuroimmune communication and how neuroimmune interactions might contribute to pain and the inflammatory landscape in ulcerative colitis. He expected to complete his doctorate in 2025.”
Adlakha received an award and stipend from the medical college in 2022 for his research on the immunomodulatory role of nociceptive neurons in ulcerative colitis.
Grief services for students and staff
The release, which was sent to the medical college’s students, faculty and staff, lists support options for those grieving.
“Grief has no timeline. We need to care for ourselves and each other as we mourn the loss of Aaditya and remember him as a friend, student and colleague,” the release reads.
Students can access grief counseling services by contacting the university’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) department at 513-556-0648. Faculty and staff who would like counseling and support are asked to contact the university’s Employee Assistance Plan (EAP) at 800-227-6007.
CPD is asking anyone with information related to the incident to call Crime Stoppers at (513) 352-3040.
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This article appears in Nov 1-14, 2023.