Internship

About My Internship

Dr. Amelia Linnemann's Lab is located at the Center for Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at Indiana University School of Medicine. Her lab focuses on Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) development by studying the immune responses of the cells that cause the disease under inflammatory stress. The lab has three main focuses: (1) understand stress response mechanisms of pancreatic islet cells and how these cells survive under stress, (2) study pancreatic cell signaling under stress, (3) understand how regulated autophagy helps beta cells survive.

You can read more about Dr. Linnemann and her research below:

Dr. Linnemann

This short educational video created by Diabetes UK offers and summary of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes, with both physiological differences and complications of the diseases. Understanding the difference between the two diseases is important as disease progression varies.

The Workplace and My Role

The Workplace

The lab is located in a shared by space occupied by several other lab groups led by various primary investigators. We occupy a few lab benches available. Most of the time experiments can be preformed on the lab benches, however we do have access to a biosafety cabinet room to prepare and handle potentially hazardous materials. We also have access to a microscopy room for microscopic imaging, where the lights can be turned off to capture fluorescent images like the ones taken for my project.

My Roles

My responsibilities included the following:

Be mindful of my professional and technical development through daily logs to reflect on areas for improvement.
Maintain a digital lab notebook to track observations and data with detailed notes.
Maintain a sterile environment to prevent contamination of experimental equipment.
Learn how to properly handle lab equipment and follow lab guidelines.
Handle a sensitive cell line.
Learn how to set up and care for microscopy equipment to capture high-quality images.
Learn how to and feel comfortable completing tasks on my own.
Attend weekly lab meetings and listen to other individuals experiments.
Understand the theories behind our research by reviewing experiment protocols, reading research papers, and taking notes during lab meetings.

Images of human beta cells taken during the imaging portion my final project.

My Experiences at the Internship

How the Internship is Helped Me Reach My Goals

The internship at Dr. Linnemann's lab helped me improve several skills, including my written and oral communication, technical lab skills, and build my knowledge of the theories studied in this lab.

Communication

I wanted to learn how to have effective communication when in an environment that requires specific wording and exposure to new ideas. I wanted to be understood in person, through email, and through my digital lab notebook.

The lab utilizes online laboratory notebooks that everyone has access to. The online lab notebooks allow each scientist to review each other’s work, which helps with sharing and collaboration. This year I focused on keeping this lab notebook neat with my experiment protocols and experimental data. My notebook was shared with my supervisors so they could give recommendations for improvement to my notebook.

My supervisors also had access to Daily Logs that I kept where I shared my own thoughts of my learning. The Daily Logs kept me on track and allowed for further discussion of what skills I needed to focus on next.

Additionally, to improve my oral communication I was required to present during our weekly lab meetings. These helped become more comfortable speaking in front of others and become prepared for the LHSI showcase at the end of the year.

Technical lab skills and techniques

I focused on building foundational techniques used in lab setting that can be carried over into professional school and my future employment following this internship.

With my supervisors, we established that my focuses this year will be on microscopy, cell culturing, and keeping a sterile environment. To start, I spent time shadowing my supervisors before completing tasks myself to observe how they complete tasks. While observing I was able to pick up skills that made handling lab equipment easy. Eventually I was trusted to complete tasks alone and I was successful.

Build my knowledge

As I spent time in the lab this past year, I wanted to understand the theories that the lab focuses on and why. For me this included gaining knowledge of existing work. I was assigned research papers and educational videos to view by my supervisors to help me prepare for the various experiments that lab uses. These gave me background and what to expect over the course of the year.

I was lucky to get exposure to concepts from lab in the classroom. It allowed me to give more meaning to the experiments I was preforming, especially during Immunology. The immune responses studied in my project were initially difficult for me to understand. I was able to build connections between lab and lecture which helped me solidify background knowledge needed for my project. This helped me appreciate and recognize how material learned in the classroom has to be carried over to professional settings. As this was my first time experiencing this, I found it easier to maintain motivation for classes when my course load became heavier since I knew these topics would come back.

Strengths and Weaknesses, Then and Now

Fall Strengths and Weaknesses

I made sure to ask questions when I was not understanding a procedure fully, and looked over papers and videos to help myself.
I made sure to review concepts on my own by going back to my own notes to be independent.
In the beginning I had difficulties understanding concepts mentioned in lab meetings, and struggled to understand the "why" of this research.
It was a challenge to balance coursework and the internship. I had to find balance and prioritize.

Spring Strengths and Weaknesses

I am able to think critically about the work completed in the lab and form connections outside of lab. I have a better understanding of the experiments I help preform.
I am able to work alone and feel confident. I especially enjoy microscopy, and find myself zoning in while working with the microscopes and capturing publishable images.
I get excited about the work I do and want to learn more.
I had a larger course load this semester. While I was happy to be in the lab, at times it was difficult to focus when I had responsibilities outside of lab.

Successes and Challenges

Successes

Successfully genotyping mice with my fellow intern. We were excited to figure out the procedure on our own after watching the process a few times from our supervisor. We looked back to our past notes to ensure we were doing each step correctly. The best part was that we got to keep a photo of our results.
Learning how to work alone and feeling confident about my results. I found working alone to be scary at first since in courses you typically work with and rely on a lab partner to finish experiments. This was the first time I was able to complete experiments alone. While I was able to reach out to my supervisor if I needed help at any time, I made sure to solve problems on my own before asking. This helped me better understand the procedures by actively recalling what came next or what I could have missed.
Feeling comfortable presenting my final project at the LHSI showcase. Presenting at the showcase was not as intimidating as I thought it would be. The people I was able to speak to were kind and asked good questions about my work, so I knew they were interested in what I was presenting. I think I could do it again and not be so stressed about the process.

Challanges

Learning the scientific language used. I found that there were knowledge gaps towards topics I have not learned before. This made understanding lab theories difficult in the fall semester, as many concepts I didn't know got covered in my spring classes. However, I feel that lab prepared me for my spring classes and know exactly which topics to focus on the most.
At times I didn't ask enough questions. While I did ask questions, there were moments where I felt overwhelmed by information and was unsure of what to ask first. I feel that I worried about interrupting my supervisors, especially when I knew it we had a busy day. Eventually I understood that they wanted me to ask questions even if the answers seemed obvious. I could have made the learning process easier for myself by reaching out more.

The Big Picture

The training I received while working at this lab prepared me for my final LHSI project. For my project, I focused on Type 1 Diabetes and how damage to human beta islet cells in the pancreas leads to T1D development. My work was completed under direction of my direct supervisor Mrs. Leslie Wagner, a PhD candidate at the Department of Biochemistry at Indiana University School of Medicine. The work we completed together involved studying the impacts the immune system, particularly certain cytokines, have on the mitochondria of the cells of human beta islet cells that become damaged during Type 1 Diabetes progression. There are more details about this experiment under the "My LHSI Project" page.

My LHSI Project

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