My Internship
About My Program - Elevator Pitch
The internship site I am working with the year under the supervision of Dr. Padma Portonovo focuses on pharmacology and different innovation projects within life science. Her program know as "bench to bedside" allows interns to gain a better understand of the reasoning and science behind tasks preformed in a business or lab setting for topics such as drug development and biotherapeutics research. I am being exposed to this process on both the academic side by investigating phage display biotechnology in the IU School of Medicine's Chemical Genomics Core with Dr. Alan Waffo, as well as the commercial side with a start up company called Anagin working on new medicine techniques and therapies to improve common issues with PTSD and pain. This work is important because using phage biotechnology, new discoveries about cancer genes and ways to fight them have been made. Drug development is also a very crucial field since this specific company is working to improve issues chronic pain and PTSD which over 20 million Americans suffer from daily.
Project Summary:
This internship site offered many valuable experiences into different aspects of medical innovations. The core sites and start-up companies within the IU School of Medicine covers both scientific research and business development. This year I shadowed supervisors in the Chemical Genomics Core and the Behavioral Core to learn their day to day processes and how they collaborate with other cores to accomplish their research goals. This experience taught me the importance of teamwork and how it is used daily in research jobs. The main part of my internship was hands-on work in a startup company called Anagin. This company is a part of the CTSI preclinical innovation program. Anagin receives and manages funding from outside programs to develop new medicinal drugs to treat problems with chronic pain, which is an issue that impacts 20 million people worldwide. The start up company has given me an understanding on what skills are needed to run a research business and secure necessary equipment. I have also be given the chance to take on independent projects which have given me the chance to develop new laboratory techniques and gain confidence in my own work.
Learning and Skills
There are many skills I am bringing into the workplace that I am hoping to improve during my time at this internship site. I have experience in a lab setting, but I am hoping to gain more independence and confidence so I will be able to be successful when working on my own. If I can better understand the different technologies and procedures that are commonly used in labs I can improve my skills on my resume for future jobs and classes. I am also hoping to learn more about the business side of this field. Since I am a STEM major, having some business knowledge will help me stand out as an applicant and allow me to be a more well rounded person.
Beginning of my Internship:
As I have been working my internship for one month now, I am starting to gain more knowledge of different techniques used in the lab and how they apply to research, especially research related to pharmacology. I have been understanding meathods by reading research article in my own time and taking notes on the processes preformed in lab. Since I am just starting, most of my work has been observing but I am beginning to run my own experiments and have even created successful cell cultures within my first two weeks!
Halfway through my Internship:
Some of the key skills I am using so far are communication, punctuality and independence within the lab.
Since meeting my lab partners who help me with my day to day experiments, I have been able to ask many questions while also indicating when I am confused and need extra help. This has been allowing me to grow my knowledge on how to preform techniques but also receive background information about the science being used and what benefits it can have on the world and in Pharmacology.
I have also been very good at being on time and making sure I arrive to work when expected. This is a skill I am very confident on and it has been proving to be useful. Since I have a full class schedule, I have to use these skills to manage my time well.
I have been tasked to do more experiments on my own since starting. For example, I often change media for cell cultures without supervision and have been learning the full spectrum of nucleic acid analysis. Through these experiences, I have been getting a lot more comfortable following guidelines and preparing samples. Independence in the lab was one of my least developed skill when I started and I am now much more confident in my abilities. Not only do I ask questions when needed, but I also am not afraid to ask for help when something doesn't go as planed. Knowing that mistakes in research happen and are accepted, I feel much more comfortable doing individual work. I have even been able to aid on research presented in the IU school of Medicine research convention as seen below:
End of my Internship:
This internship was an amazing way for me to grow as a student and as a professional. I gained some amazing experiences, as documented above, and am very excited to use these skills to find new opportunities that continue to support my learning and future. I now have a deeper understanding of the type of work that goes on in pharmacology and how I can make an impact in the field using the skills I posses.
Application of my Internship:
I have also been able to integrate information from class into my lab.
For example, in Cell Biology we are learning about DNA analysis and how to apply primers and amplify DNA using a PCR, which is a protocol I have been working with in my internship. This has been very helpful since as a Biology minor, I no longer take any biology labs, and only lectures. I learn about these techniques through textbooks but being able to preform them hands on is strengthening my academic and professional understanding.
Application to My Future and Why My Work Matters:
These experiences have helped me confirm what I want to do as a job. I really enjoy working in a lab and developing new ways to make medicines that can help others. Obtaining basic biology skills used in many labs will help me become more efficent in future internships/jobs, especially those that work in Pharmacology.
One of the reasons I am so interested in Pharmacology is because of the impact it has one everyone. There are many life threating diseases out there that would cause great harm if not for drug therapies and medications. Drug development is necessary to keep people safe and healthy. My current work is benefiting my team at getting closer to a drug to help combat chronic pain. Once they have successfully completed their goal, this medicine will better the lives of over 20 million people!
The Workplace
While being immersed in many professional enviornments, I have been able to learn how different types of workplaces organize and manage their workloads.
Academic workplace Enviornment
Undergraduate and graduate students collaborate with professors to find the best way to accomplish their overall goal. This kind of team work and collaboration really allows for everyone to understand all aspects of the research. Any area where you are unsure or need advice, there is someone there to provide you guidance. This kind of teamwork is something I am looking for in a future career because the support system it provides allows me a positive enviornment to grow and learn in.
Industry Workplace Enviornment
In a start up company setting, there is a small team in person that does the day to day work and a team in the background that provides the research and educational background. This kind of enviornment still allows me to grow but in a more independent way. I was surprised to learn this because I always imagined a company would have all team members at one site and not at different locations. In this enviornment, I have to take the initiative to get the extra information I need to better understand my work. By taking these extra steps and reaching out to the section of the team that can provide me with these answers, I am showing hard work and a desire to be better.
This type of team pushes me to be the best version of myself. It allows for more independent growth while still offering the teamwork aspect. I have been able to get in contact with scientists within the company that are experts in drug development and they have taught me a lot of background information about why the steps I preform in lab are useful. This is helping me improve my lab skills but also better understand the degree path for pharmacology and what job opportunities there are within the field.
Impact on my Future
I am really enjoying both internship sites and how supportive the teams I am working for have been. Being exposed to different enviornments has allowed me to discover that I value a workplace that is supportive, welcoming and pushes me to be the best version of myself. In both locations, I have been able to learn hands on as apposed to just following protocals like I expected to do. On top of gaining lab skills, I have been able to work with people with many different educational backgrounds. Some have Ph.Ds and others only Masters and Bachelors. Even their degree paths vary within the STEM field. This has been a great opportunity for me since I have been able to learn what all of these different educational paths offer and how they have contributed to my coworkers getting to the place they are in today. I have been able to think more about my future education and what I want to do by taking their advice and recommendations into consideration. I have also made great networking opportunities since one of my coworkers is actually a professor in the IU School of Medicine graduate school here at IUPUI. She has been able to tell me about graduate school requirements and what the different degree paths offer which was an are I have been looking for advice in. Diversity in the workplace is something I truly value for a future place of employment. With different backgrounds, people are able to share different view points so I am always able to learn something new!
Successes
My biggest success so far has been completing a whole tissue dissociation to create cell cultures with no assistance. This is one of the first protocals I learned in my lab and I was able to get good results when working independently. This shows I am growing my strengths and comfort levels within the lab.
<-- This is an example of a cell culture protocal, not the exact one I follow but similar ideas. I am not able to share my exact protocal due to confidentiality of the company.
I have also been able to complete a whole DNA sequencing process on my own. This means starting with RNA and working to create a full DNA strand. This was so cool to learn since it actually lined up directly with my Biology lecture I was taking meaning my coworkers were able to support my education by reinforcing ideas I learned in class! These skills are used in many science labs and having a basic understanding will allow me to have a good head start no matter where my future takes me.
<-- This is an example of what a gel electrophoresis looks like.
I have gotten to the point at the end of my internship where I can come and go into lab when needed to get projects assigned to me done. Some of these projects include splitting and staining cells to better understand what kind of interactions are occuring between neurons. This type of full independence is something I wanted to accomplished from the beginning and I am very proud of the progress I have made!
Challenges
My biggest challenge so far has been time management. Taking multiple credit hours while working has been something I had to overcome in order to be successful in both areas. To do this, I asked for support from people at work as well as classmates and professors. This has allowed me to have people to turn to when I need extra help or feel overwhelmed.
Being able to have good time management skills is going to be able to support me in future careers and life in general. Finding the healthy balance between family, friends, work and free time is key to living a happy and healthy life. Being able to grow this skill now and find good coping mechanisms that allows me to be successful makes me better prepared for any obstacle life can throw at me, career related or not.
By working on these challenges I have been able to become a more persistent and well rounded person. I have grown immensely during my experience and I feel much more comfortable being able to manage my time to set me up for success in future situations.