MY RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Since I was a junior in high school, I have had the ambition to be part of a lab that correlates with my passions. I, fortunately, have the opportunity to work in Dr. Dulin's lab since Fall 2020. I will be documenting my experience as each semester progresses and will include future publications and things I have learned along the way. My role at the lab can be found here.
FALL 2020
I spent this first semester getting acquainted with the lab and getting to know the graduate student I will be working under, Ashley Tucker. Since she was focusing on her preliminary exam this semester, this allowed me to focus on all the training I had to do. The amount of training was much more than I expected, but it made me realize what I was getting into next semester. I also frequently attended a neural regeneration journal club taught by Dr. Dulin. This helped create a foundation to neuroscience and introduced me to concepts heavily used in the lab.
SPRING 2021
After completing all of my training, I began to familiarize myself with the day to day activities the lab entails. I have learned basic practices, such as cryostating, immunohistochemistry, dissections, and animal care. These experiences have shown me the entire process from collecting embryonic stem cells to analyzing results through imaging. I now understand the foundational material I learned last semester by applying it to multiple stages of different projects around the lab. With my multiple responsibilities this semester, it gave me an introduction to what I could potentially be doing in the next couple of years.
SUMMER 2021
This summer I had the opportunity to be a part of a collaboration between multiple universities. The project dealt with testing the effectiveness of a device that can evaluate BMS scoring instead of doing it in person. Being part of this collaboration helped me see the importance of animal care and why many scientific papers include many behavior tests. I also was presented with the opportunity to be part of the Undergradute Research Scholars Thesis program. My project deals with the efficacy of stem cell grafts by testing axon extension between acute and chronic neural progenitor cell grafts. I will continue to post regular updates on the project since that will be my main focus this upcoming academic year.
FALL 2021
This semester I began pursuing an Undergraduate Research Scholar Thesis! My project evaluates the effectiveness of neural stem cell (NSC) treatments for spinal cord injury by comparing NSC transplantation between short and long periods. This is because most literature evaluates results for only 6-8 weeks after NSC transplantation. By comparing it for a longer time, we can see if NSCs can be a long-term treatment. This semester has been one of the most challenging due to my involvement in my academics, extracurriculars, and research. I spent many hours in the lab writing, perfecting my technique, and discussing the basis of my project with my graduate mentor and PI. However, I feel grateful for this opportunity. I know few people at this university have the opportunity to pursue a thesis during their sophomore year, and it makes me happy that I am in such a supportive environment that allows me to do so. At this point, my experiment has only started and I will begin having my data until the spring semester.
SPRING 2022
At the beginning of the year, I told myself this semester would be the best and worst semester of my time at Texas A&M. While I have not finished my undergraduate career, I can say that it felt that way. By April, I submitted my undergraduate thesis to LAUNCH. While I know I have a lot of analysis to finish over the following year, I am very proud of what I accomplished and am thankful for all the help I received. However, I will say trying to balance all of my classes, my involvement in the student senate, and my research was not so easy. I spent many nights trying to put my best into everything. Sometimes it went well, other times it didn't. In other news, I decided to apply for summer research programs for undergraduates. This will help me affirm that I want to pursue a Ph.D. and learn more about stem cell treatments for brain-related disorders. So this summer I will be going to the Harvard Stem Cell Institute Internship Program! I can't wait to document my experience at the end of the summer and to make amazing memories.At this point in my undergraduate career, I often wonder why I pursue research. I research because there are so many questions to be answered. I love the intrigue of it. That is why I want to make a career out of this profession and be one of the best in the field of neural stem cell research.Â
SUMMER 2022
This summer I had the opportunity to participate in the Harvard Stem Cell Institute Internship program. I was able to focus on brain-related disorders, such as developmental and epileptic encephalopathy (DEE) , which results in post neonatal epilepsy, at Dr. Clifford Woolf's lab. This disorder is caused by a potassium channel mutation. My project focused on modeling DEE based on this potassium mutation using CRISPR and growing excitatory neurons. After growing the control and experimental excitatory neurons to model DEE, I tested their electrical activity and structure using a microelectrode array and immunocytochemistry, respectively. By understanding how this mutation affects the brain, drug screenings can be used to find a drug that combats this mutation in an efficient manner, which will help millions with DEE. Using this method to accurately model and potentially find a treatment for DEE has shown me how impactful stem cell treatments are to the world. This experience has also shown me that I can be successful pursuing a research career.
FALL 2022
After coming back from my internship, I jumped right back into my independent research project with Dr. Jennifer Dulin. Even though I finished the Undergraduate Research Scholars Thesis Program, I still had a couple more stains and analyses to finish my project. The first analysis I worked on was quantifying corticospinal tract axon density and neuronal density within the neural progenitor cell graft. Overall it was a lot of work since it was manual tracing. While it was challenging and tedious, this taught me to persevere through any obstacle that comes my way. Overall, this analysis will help strengthen my study and lead it towards a publication.
SPRING 2023
This semester was about finishing the work of my independent project. The last two pieces of analysis I had to complete were the axon extension quantification and the spinal tract axon density within the neural progenitor cell graft. Since I had experience doing staining, imaging, and analysis on my own it felt a lot less stressful. It was the first time I felt like a graduate student, which made me excited for my future. I even got to begin working on the writing process for my manuscript. I had to read current articles to learn how to write sceintifically for the paper. This is when already writing an undergraduate thesis became extremely helpful. Having the opportunity to create figures and learn how to communicate my project has been extremely rewarding. It's nice to see how this projects has progressed from the concept ideation, experiments, analysis, to the writing. I have already finished all of the analysis and plan on submitting the manuscript over the summer. In addition to finishing this project, I also have begun the process of applying to graduate school and I am incredibly excited. I will be documenting this process more as the semesters go by, but I have finalized my list of programs and will begin a spreadsheet on the application materials.
PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS
May 2023
TEXAS A&M INSTITUTE OF NEUROSCIENCE SPRING SYMPOSIUM
With having done 5 poster presentations in the past year and a half, I decided I wanted to try something new and participate in an oral presentation for this symposium. I had to get permission for doing this since oral presentations are only meant for graduate or postdoctoral students. Luckily, I was able to present my research as the only undergraduate student. The presentation has a lot more analysis including graft neuronal density and differences between astrocytes/glial cells between the two time points. I was current working on the spinal tract analysis, but I did not have the time to include it in my presentation. Overall it was a great success and it allowed me to present my resarch to various faculty and answer their questions. I had the privilege of receiving the second place award, which was a huge shock to me. Attached is my presentation.
April 2023
NEW ENGLAND SCIENCE SYMPOSIUM PRESENTATION
This semester I had the opportunity to attend the New England Science Symposium hosted by Harvard Medical School. This symposium brought in underrepresented undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows from around the country to present their research. While it is open to everyone in the country, the majority of people who attend are from Ivy League institutions. After applying and being accepted to present a poster on this topic, I realized this gave me a great opportunity to see my summer internship friends, connect with various faculty, see what labs have availability, and see what research is being presented at labs I am interested in for graduate school. Coming back to Boston was a wonderful time, and I got to see old friends, catch up with members of the Woolf lab, and meet people from academia, industry, and even the administration at Harvard. After presenting my research I was awarded the TACS BIO Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Award and the Predicine Translational Research Award out of the 200+ poster presenters. This was such a huge honor to be the only undergraduate who received two awards. It even came with a cash prize that I did not even know about! Attached are my poster presentation and award recipients.
December 2022
TEXAS A&M INSTITUTE FOR NEUROSCIENCE WINTER SYMPOSIUM
With some new analysis, I decided to present my independent research project again. This time it was a bit different since I had broke my toe the week prior. While I did have to sit for portions of my presentation period, it was a great experience to communicate what work I have done over the semester with graduate students from the TAMIN program. Based on my analysis, we did see a significant increase in corticospinal tract axon innervation into the neural progenitor cell graft in the chronic group. So this may have increased over time. This is good to know that this type of regeneration is being promoted. Attached is my poster.
August 2022
HARVARD STEM CELL INSTITUTE INTERNSHIP SYMPOSIUM
This symposium was an opportunity for family members, program coordinators, the Vice President of Research, and faculty from the Harvard Stem Cell Institute to come see what results we have accomplished throughout this short period of time. It was a really rewarding experience to learn about a brand new field of study, various protocols, and generate data in a matter of 10 weeks. In this symposium, all of the interns had to present a 5 minute flash talk about our research and prepare a poster to present the research in more detail. Attached is both the flash presentation and poster.
May 2022
LAB MEETING PRESENTATION
This presentation was an opportunity to share my results and images with the rest of my lab members. In addition, my project was entering the analysis phase. So I wanted to make sure all of my beginning information and the images were of a high standard. Presenting at this lab meeting was a great opportunity for me to answer difficult questions that judges in the future could ask, how to be a better presenter, and think about the future of my project. Attached is the presentation.
May 2022
TEXAS A&M INSTITUTE FOR NEUROSCIENCE SPRING SYMPOSIUM
This was my second poster presentation for my undergraduate thesis. By this time, the spinal cord tissue 24 weeks after a dorsal column lesion and neural progenitor cell transplantation had been analyzed and imaged. The visual results from this poster showed a lot of promise due to the major improvements between the different time points. Some of the future work I need to complete includes staining of motor and sensory tracts, quantifying the neural progenitor cell axon extension, and looking at the graft composition and its density. While there is a lot of work left to be done, I am very proud of the work I have accomplished and I can see my research project having a major impact. At this symposium, I was recognized as having the Second Best Undergraduate Poster out of 40 undergraduates. Attached is my poster.
March 2022
STUDENT RESEARCH WEEK POSTER
This was my first poster presentation presenting my own project. At this point, my project had analyzed the spinal cord tissue 6 weeks after a dorsal column lesion and neural progenitor cell transplantation. My data shows images that are consistent with previous literature. With this strong foundation, I am able to compare these images with spinal cord tissue 24 weeks after a dorsal column lesion and neural progenitor cell transplantation once I process the data. In this poster session, I received a perfect score from both judges. Attached is my poster.
April 2021
LAB MEETING PRESENTATION
This presentation covered the use of mesenchymal and neural stem cells as a potential combination treatment for post spinal cord injury. The paper proved that a combinatory treatment was more effective. Presenting this paper helped me gain a better understanding of a collaboration the Dulin lab is doing with another lab focusing on biomaterials. Attached is my presentation.
May 2021
WINGS FOR LIFE POSTER
This poster was done by my graduate mentor, Ashley Tucker, and her work on mapping neural progenitor cells to restore motor function following spinal cord injury. Although this is not my own research, my efforts in the lab with helping this project have allowed me to be an author on this poster. Having this poster allows me to see the entire timeline of my graduate mentor's project and gain a better understanding of the methods I would use in an individual research project. Attached is the poster.
2021-2022 UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH THESIS
Title: Analysis of Acute and Chronic Timepoints of Transplanted Neural Progenitor Cells in a Model of Spinal Cord Injury
This year I had the opportunity to pursue an undergraduate thesis, which will count as my capstone. Having this opportunity let me see what being a graduate student could potentially look like. The project will evaluate the efficacy of stem cell transplantation by comparing their results from an acute time point to a chronic time point. The importance of this project is that it will indicate whether NPCs can be an effective and long-term treatment for people with spinal cord injury. I will be publishing my progress as the project develops.
April 2022
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SCHOLAR THESIS (PUBLISHED TO OAKTRUST)
This is my finalized thesis paper that I submitted to the LAUNCH staff. This paper includes up to the 6-week time point after a dorsal column lesion and neural progenitor cell transplantation. While this paper does not include my entire project and all of the images I have produced at this point, it does not mean my project has ended. I will continue my project until I finish all of my analysis. The end goal is to publish this research in a journal. Attached is my submitted undergraduate thesis.
January 2022
LITERATURE REVIEW OF NPC/NSC TRANSPLANTATION IN RODENT MODELS
As my project deals with time differences, there was a point in my project when I did not have data to analyze. This was because the 24-week time point was months away and both sets of data needed to be processed the same. While I had to wait, I was tasked with completing a literature review on neural progenitor cell (NPC) and neural stem cell (NSC) transplantation in rodent models. The highlighted rows indicate the time point for the analysis was longer than 8 weeks. In this case, most papers on this topic look at the data only 6-8 weeks after transplantation, which highlights the importance of my project as I am examining NPC transplantation after 24 weeks. This helped me understand my analysis more and see what papers my project is based on. Attached is the literature review.
October 2021
SCIENCE UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM
During the fall semester, my principal investigator and I decided to work on finding an opportunity to fund my research project. We both found the SUROP grant, which aims to increase the number of undergraduate students involved in research projects by funding their effort, as well as increasing opportunities for qualified underrepresented minority and first-generation students involved in research. The grant amount I received from this program was $6500 and I can use it until the funding runs out. Attached is my proposal.
September 2021
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH SCHOLAR PROPOSAL
When applying for the thesis program, I was required to submit a proposal of the current status of spinal cord injury treatments, a summary of my research project, the steps I needed to complete, and why this project is important. The proposal can be found here.
2021 - 2022
PROJECT IMAGES
Attached are a bunch of the images from my project that I really liked and were impactful. Please enjoy!
