Major: Neuroscience

Award: Albstein Research Scholarship

My hypothesis was that tau fibrils interact in a cell-specific manner with the protein of interest my lab is studying, and that the cell type in which this interaction happens directly dictates the way in which our protein of interest affects tau spreading. Over time, the specifics of my hypothesis changed a lot as I detected protein + tau expression in cell types I hadn’t anticipated and thus had to adapt my expectations to these newfound interactions. During the school year, I spent about 15-17 hours per week, and 8 hours per day over the summer.   

I also work in the lab of Dr. Hey-Kyoung Lee at the Mind/Brain Institute researching synaptic plasticity. Specifically, we are looking at whether synaptic plasticity can be artificially induced in visual corticothalamic connections through the use of low intensity ultrasound stimulation. Through my work in the Lee and Mao labs, I have been very fortunate to see research in molecular and systems neuroscience and how the two can be integrated to better understand large and small-scale neuroscience. 

Challenges and Gains

The most challenging part of my research was coming up with future directions when data showed the complete opposite of what we had anticipated. Often times, experimental results were unclear, which meant having to decide whether this was due to experimental error or the mechanism being different from what we expected. To do this, I often had to rerun experiments several times, come up with new parameters, and especially learn to accept failure before finally seeing clearer results. While being the most challenging part, I also think this was the part from which I learned the most and developed the perseverance needed to conduct research.   

I never expected to learn how closely tied together translational medications and cell-level research are! When I started research, I had really wanted to delve into the mechanisms of disease progression and what causes disease, but after getting more involved it was very rewarding to see how the answers to these questions were directly the basis for therapeutics. Identifying one protein or mechanism could be enough to develop a whole new therapy by targeting this new discovery. This directly implied the closeness of clinical, translational, and basic science research, which was really cool to learn about! 

In conducting research, I have developed my skills of critical thinking and scientific reasoning by challenging myself in interpreting new or unexpected data, designing experiments, and distilling my research into big-picture summaries and discussions. I especially have learned how to not only more efficiently conduct research, but how to communicate it and how to present my interests in a way understandable to a general audience. In presenting research, I have gotten to meet so many people who share my interests and stay up to date on the latest advancements in and out of my field of interest. Thanks to my amazing mentors, I have, most importantly, built unbreakable and incredibly formative relationships with people who inspire me and have guided me to success, including my PIs as well as my fellow lab members. They have given me amazing advice on everything from future career moves to the best shopping locations in Baltimore. 

Post-graduation Plans

After graduating, I hope to pursue an MD/PhD in Neuroscience and become a practicing physician-scientist researching the mechanisms of neurodegeneration and regeneration.