Embedded Files
February 26, 2024: I had my first meeting with Dr. Stephanie Miller about the possibility of a mentorship. We discussed my goals for my MARC project, and I got to learn a lot about the work that she does. She suggested that I write to the PI of the lab she works in, Dr. Jorge Palop, to ask about the possibility of working part-time in the lab this summer to collect my data. This was also the first meeting I had been able to have with a researcher in the networking process which was very exciting!
March 18, 2024: Dr. Palop got back to me, and he agreed to have me in the lab this summer to work on my project! I still don't know what specific project will be viable for me to take on yet, but I will continue to communicate with Stephanie now that I am approved for the summer.
April 3, 2024: I had a Zoom meeting with Stephanie to discuss more project specifics and to learn more about her research. She also confirmed that she is willing to mentor me for the entirety of my MARC project along with another member of the Palop Lab, Katie Ly.
April 30: Today I submitted my literature review summarizing various treatment approaches to target different biological mechanisms of AD, with a particular focus on targeting Aβ accumulation.
May 2, 2024: I met with Stephanie and Katie again to discuss more specific details about my summer (hours, logistics, etc). We also talked about how I can best prepare for the summer by reading literature from the lab and gaining a foundational understanding of coding and machine learning methods used in the field. We still do not know the specific project I will be leading, but it sounds like there will likely be lots of options for me to lead a smaller sub-project within a larger project. Right now, the plan for the summer is for me to spend time developing a thorough conceptual understanding of the methods used in the lab and then get trained in certain methods (either direct training or shadowing) for the first part of the summer. Then, in the second part of the summer, I will shift my focus to my own project and collect my data before the summer is done.
May 24, 2024: Today we had our first MARC poster session where MA students, faculty, and families came to see our project proposals. I was a little nervous before as this was my first time presenting my ideas to people outside of my mentors and classmates, but the session ended up going very well. I felt like my presentation became more concise and accessible each time a new person came to my poster, and I actually ended up rethinking parts of my design based on questions that I was asked.
June 7th, 2024: Today I finished my first week interning at the Palop Lab. Katie was in town for this week, so I spent most of my time in the lab shadowing her. This included sitting in on Zoom meetings, going to lab meetings, and touring most of the lab facilities. We also attended a few seminars over the week, including one about AI in technology, which I found very interesting. I also spent a lot more time familiarizing myself with some of the methods used by the machine learning team in the Palop Lab. I feel like this was a very successful week, and I feel like I learned a lot. I am excited to see what the rest of the summer brings!
July 1, 2024: It is now around the middle of the summer, and I am continuing to learn a lot! In addition to reading lots of papers, shadowing lab meetings, and spending some time in person with my mentors, I have been taking a Python coding course through Coursera (would highly recommend to check out - its called Python For Everybody). It was a little intimidating learning to code in the beginning, but now I already feel confident with my skills. I have been learning about different data structures within Python, and most of the activities have taught me how to use Python to analyze and sort through large files or data sets. I really enjoy the puzzle-like nature of each coding problem, and I am excited to continue developing my coding skills as the summer continues. I have also begun using DeepLabCut (DLC), and I am currently working on a summer demo project where I will do practice analyses on just 5 mouse videos.
September 5, 2024: This week, I wrapped up my method validation project. The purpose of this project was to validate the DLC step of the method I will be using for my main project. To do this, I compared 4 different DLC networks that were trained on different amounts of data (different numbers of videos). My next step is to choose a mouse cohort that I will continue working with for my main project and begin brainstorming possible project directions/questions.
October 22, 2024: I am currently problem-solving my way through a demo VAME post-analysis of my 5-video project. This experience will help me prepare to create and analyze the results of my main project down the road. Due to a Python version incompatibility between the VAME source code and Google Colab (the notebook that allows me to access GPU processing power), I hadn't been able to use VAME to analyze this project yet, so I am excited to get some results now, even though they are just for practice. Right now, my next steps are to 1) officially choose the mouse cohort for my main project, 2) brainstorm research question(s), and begin outlining my methods section (which is already established: DLC+VAME). I also need to figure out if I will be able to access data beyond my VAME analysis which could help me more thoroughly analyze the VAME results in addition to standardized tests.
December 11, 2025: We have officially decided to continue using the same mouse cohort for my main project, and I also have my specific project question now. This project will be part of a larger study with these mice, so the specifics are still somewhat confidential, however we have made a lot of exciting progress. This last week I have been stuck on a new error in Python which we are currently working to resolve before we can move forward.
January 23, 2025: We have now started putting together our final manuscripts for our projects, and I am working on completing my introduction. Unfortunately, an update to Google Colab (which is used to run DLC and VAME analysis) started causing errors that halted the progress of my data analysis for the last 2 weeks. We are currently working to resolve these errors so I can resume my data analysis process.
February 4, 2025: Today we were able to resolve all of the errors in Google Colab and resume DLC analysis which is very exciting! My next steps are to continue my data analysis, and to start working on the methods section of my manuscipt.
May 12th, 2025: It is the start of senior projects, and I have started to get some exciting results in my analysis! We decided to only focus on the 2nd and 3rd timepoint rather than all 3 timepoints due to the incompatibility of the format of the tests used. Right now we are focusing on comparing motif usage across timepoints in a single genotype, comparing motif usage across genotypes at both timepoints, and also comparing motif speeds at both timepoints. I am also working on putting together my presentation for the MARC Colloquium in a few weeks!
May 29th, 2025: Yesterday was the MARC Colloquium, and I was super proud of how my presentation went! I had the opportunity to delve into the machine learning methodology, as well as some exciting results we recently found. I am also working hard to wrap on my final manusript becuase I now have most of the results I will include.
June 3rd, 2025: Today, I wrapped up my MARC manuscript, meaning my main project is coming to a close. I will continue to evaluate additional results and collaborate with my mentors in some capacity in the future. My MARC project has been a journey that has led me to explore unexpected and challenging topics, while also developing new skills along the way. I am grateful to the MARC program and, in particular, to my mentors for the opportunity to experience professional research as a high school student. I am signing off on this blog for now; however, please look out for future research updates, as I plan to continue pursuing college research.
Page updated
Report abuse