My Internship
At the Kacena Lab research is conducted to explore bone regeneration and fracture healing, and more recently if SARS-CoV-2 causes bone loss. The research at this lab is ground-breaking, even sending mice to the International Space Station to study fracture healing in the weightlessness of space. The research being conducted in this lab is crucial to the furthering of orthopedic medicine that will help people on Earth and beyond. If you would like to look deeper into the Kacena Lab and its projects, I encourage you to visit the blog!
Learning and Skills
My learning goals and skills I look to develop for this internship are as follows: I want to gain experience working in a research lab, make connections and network with medical and research professionals, and learn how to apply what I have learned from my classes to actual research and lab work. I am very excited to contribute to the research being conducted by the Kacena Lab.
As I continue my work in the Kacena Lab, I gain confidence in myself as a member of the lab, and gain more effectiveness and efficiency in the research lab environment. An area I will continue to grow and develop is independence and autonomy. I have gained the trust of my superiors, but along with their trust, I need to continue to demonstrate more self-confidence gained through their trust. I have learned professionalism, professional language, and communication are crucial parts of a lab environment and I look forward to expanding upon those skills. My favorite experiences as an intern in the Kacena Lab include working with the mice, observing surgery and x-ray procedures, and learning to test DNA.
My work in the Kacena Lab aligns very closely with my degree path as a Biomedical Engineer. In a Biomechanics class, our final lab was to test the strength of different bones. I was able to understand the content and purpose of the final lab more deeply and confidently because of the important work I am a part of in my internship. Additionally, my work in the Kacena lab also supports my academics by using critical thinking skills and professional communication and presentation skills. Because of the rigorous and highly professional environment at my internship site and due to my interactions throughout my internship, I have increased my confidence when interacting with other professionals and professors at IUPUI.
"There is no insignificant or too small a contribution to a great cause, for every contribution is like a pebble that creates a ripple effect in the water - it may seem small, but it can make a big difference." - Unknown
My contributions in the Kacena Lab in regards to my LHSI project allow for the proof of concepts that the study is researching to be validated and therefore become meaningful works that create advancements in the medical communinty. My responsibilities and duties as a member of the lab allow me to contribute to the overall, day-to-day operations in a dynamic research lab environment. By taking on a range of responsibilities from simple tasks to more specialized, skilled tasks, my contributions as an intern allow for critical research work to be conducted. I am also gaining valuable experience in a research lab environment, which has been paramount in confirming that I am on the right course path for my future career desires.
As I reflect on the skills that I set a goal to use and grow during this internship and into my future as a student and professional, the list continues to evolve. I do believe there are five key areas that I have grown in and will continue to grown in throughout the rest of this internship. These skills are life-long skills that are important for my internship and will make me a more well-rounded employee in my future career endeavors. The five skills that I have developed and used the most during my internship are:
Take initiative: Don't wait for instructions to be handed down. Instead, actively seek out opportunities to contribute and take on new tasks.
Ask questions: If unsure about something, don't hesitate to ask for clarification or guidance from supervisors or colleagues. This shows eagerness to learn and contribute!
Be diligent: Show up on time, meet deadlines, and follow through on commitments. Attention to detail and a strong work ethic are crucial to making meaningful contributions.
Be creative: Look for opportunities to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions to problems. This can help to move the research forward and make a real impact.
Communicate effectively: Keep supervisors and colleagues informed of progress, and be open to feedback and suggestions. Good communication is essential to a successful internship and to making meaningful contributions to the research.
The Workplace
My favorite aspect of the workplace in the Kacena Lab is the mutual respect and comradery between the supervisors and the interns. The people that make up the lab are very down to earth, helpful, and professional. I aspire to emulate their professionalism and work ethic in my future occupations, and it is a very enriching experience to be surrounded with such people.
I have learned how intertwined and overlapping Biomedical Engineering and Orthopedic surgery are. The other LHSI intern in the lab is also a BME student, but a year ahead of me, and the Kacena lab tends to prefer BME students to be their interns. I also work with grad students, and post doctoral staff on the daily.
My experiences as an intern in the lab are very close to my expectations, and what has surprised me the most is the level of trust the staff had in me very early on.
My attitudes, beliefs, and hesitancy about working with people at greatly varying degrees of academic and professional accomplishments and backgrounds have become more at ease during my time working at the Kacena Lab. Prior to my internship beginning, I was concerned about whether the professionals working in the lab would find my skills, knowledge and contributions adequate or prohibitive. Fortunately I have been experienced a team that is highly supportive and encouraging. I think it is extremely beneficial to work with people who are at different stages of their careers and who come from different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds because there is an opportunity to observe different stages of career development in real time. It is like having the stairsteps of a career to observe and I am encourage that I witness a great deal of engaged and meaningful work even at an entry-level. I want to continue to develop a deeper and broader sense of understanding of what the team I am working with would "do differently" if they had a choice because this kind of feedback will help me plan and think more broadly as I continue to develop my own professional skills.
The workplace culture and values at the Kacena Lab prioritize collaboration, communication, and a commitment to high-quality, rigorous research. Along with these values, I have also experienced other instances of values and culture that I hope to continue to experience throughout my educational and career journey, they include prioritizing creativity, innovation and a dedication to lifelong learning. This has been a good experience for me because the Kacena Lab fosters a culture to encourage researchers and interns to take risks, explore new ideas, and constantly push the boundaries of what is currently known in order to improve the medical field.
LHSI Project Summary
The purpose of the Validation Study is to ensure that mice in which we are knocking out or in genes in specific tissues, in fact have the reductions or increases in the genes in the proper tissues.
When I genotype, or determine the DNA sequence of the mice, and get a result of Cre+ (the specific gene we are looking for) to show, it usually means that the desired mutation is present in the mouse genome for the tissue of interest. If I get a positive result for the gene of interest as well as the Cre+ then we should have deletion or increase of expression of that gene in that specific tissue.
To verify what we see in the genotyping, we are conducting the validation study to go more in depth by using qPCR (to observe gene expression) and histology or IHC (protein staining) to confirm that the gene mutations desired are actually present in the mice. This can be quantified, and the data will be placed in a graph format to show how each strain of mouse compares to the other.
I will particpate in the LHSI Showcase at the end of April, 2023 alongside other interns in the program to present my project and the results of my time at the Kacena lab. Please follow the link below to view my LHSI Showcase presentation:
Successes and Challenges
One of my biggest successes in Spring 2023 has been creating an LHSI Showcase presentation that demonstrates the importance of the project work I have completed during my internship at the Kacena Lab that also shows the significance of the research being conducted in the lab. I am very proud of my presentation and am pleased that Dr. Kacena and the lab team approved the content, structure, and overall style of the presentation. Additionally, another success that has been important to me during my internship has been becoming an independent and trusted member of the lab. Another of my successes is navigating my busy class schedule and being an intern. I have also been successful in gaining confidence when communicating my own personal needs , questions, or concerns which is a skill that I am able to easily translate to communicating with my professors and will certainly need in my future career.
One of the biggest challenges I have encountered is scheduling and time restraints with my class schedule. It is sometimes difficult to dedicate the required time for some of the larger tasks in the lab. Fortunately, for the Spring 2023 Semester I have been able to add more time in my schedule to dedicate to my LHSI internship in the Kacena Lab. The team at the Kacena Lab have been incredibly gracious and are willing to allow me to be creative if there is a scheduling conflict. One concession I have been afforded is to complete remote assignments if my schedule becomes challenging, which allows me to still be a valued contributor but with the flex of ocassionally working hours outside of the typical Lab office hours. I have also learned that earlier is the best policy for communicating scheduling conflicts and that a professional and clear communication is appreciated and received well.
Questions ?