My Internship
Dr. Plotkin Lab
During the course of my sophomore year at IUPUI, I will be doing research in Dr. Lilian Plotkin's lab. In this lab, they focus on the role of micro RNA's in relation to bone cells. Recent discovery has made them look more into the function of micro RNA's in muscles. I will be helping them wrap up their research on a certain micro RNA- miRNA 21 to be more specific. I genotype DNA and help with dissecting the mice. I will be an extra helping hand along the process. I also will be helping the Plotkin lab complete another project- TREM2. This project focuses on Alzheimer's Disease and how bones and muscles are affected before any type of dementia occurs. From this internship, I would like to master laboratory skills and techniques, and I would also like to strengthen my communication skills as well. I think if I can improve my lab skills, I can become a better student in all of my lab classes. Strengthening my communication skills will help me through the rest of my life, as I will someday work in an environment where strong communication skills are necessary. I will be able to use the knowledge I have now, such as my organization and time management skills, to help my lab succeed.
Why did you choose this internship and what do you like about it?
I chose this internship site because of the new techniques and skills I would be able to learn in this lab. There is a lot I get to do, even though this is my first time doing research. I also chose this site because the staff was very nice to me at my interview and they were willing to work with someone with no research experience. The research seemed very intriguing and it dealt with bones. Since I would like to go into orthopedics, I thought I should see all sides of it.
What are you expecting to be most successful at during your internship?
I feel through this internship, I will be most successful in learning new techniques and improving them over the course of the year. I am a very visual learner so once I see how something is done once or twice, I usually pick up on it pretty easily. Hopefully, I master a lot of skills by the end of the school year.
What do you think will be most challenging to learn or do?
I think it will be most challenging for me to completely understand the "why" of everything, to really understand what is going on in the lab. A lot of what goes on in the lab goes over my head. I think it will be difficult for me to fully understand all the concepts of the experiments. However, through the course of the year, I hope I can improve on these skills and eventually be able to present my work with confidence.
Common Experiments Performed in the Plotkin Lab:
Classes and my Internship
My internship fits perfectly with my genetics class. I learn certain things during my internship that I apply to my genetics class and lab and vice versa. I run the same experiments during genetics lab that I run at my internship. I ask a lot of questions in order to fully understand what was happening at my internship, so that I can connect it to my classes. My internship goes a lot more in depth compared to my classes, but it is very helpful in understanding the concepts I learn in class.
While working in the Plotkin lab, I have been surprised by by the day-to-day life of a full time researcher. I was surprised that there was a lot of down time to read other articles and protocols. Most of the time I walk into the lab, most of my coworkers are on a computer. I thought in research assays were completed all the time. I also thought that each lab only completes one project at a time. However, most labs have about 3-4 projects occurring at the same time. I also thought that each new project was completely different than the last, but instead each project usually builds off the last one. Overall, I was surprised about the day-to-day life of research.
The Plotkin lab has many research projects going on. I aided on the TREM2 project as well as the mir21 project. A brief visual summary of the mir21 project can be found below:
Final Thoughts and Reflections
This school year I had the opportunity to work in a research lab and work on a project, TREM2. My project focused on the connection between bone and brain. I learned a lot over the past year- how to work independently, how to be professional, and much more. I significantly increased my lab skills and overall communication skills. I asked a lot of questions in order to fully understand what I was doing and why I was doing it. I also learned how to apply what I learned in class to my research. I was learning similar techniques in my classes, so I was able to transfer those techniques to my work. I think this was a great experience for me to work outside my comfort zone and it pushed me to be more independent. I gained more confidence in my abilities and skills. The most challenging part of my internship was overcoming my fear of making a mistake. I was always very worried that I was doing something wrong or that my data wasn't good enough. Eventually, I gained more confidence in myself and learned that it was ok to make a mistake every now and then. I learned from my mistakes and did my best to not make the same mistake twice. My research team was also very helpful. They would always talk me through where I went wrong or how I could have avoided certain outcomes. I am very thankful to have worked with such an amazing group of people.