Experiences from our students

I am currently working towards my B.A. in Biochemistry and Chemistry from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, which will be completed in 2026. I was allowed to contribute to the work in the Balbo lab during the summer of 2025. I learned to isolate DNA from tissue, perform enzymatic hydrolysis, purify DNA through solid-phase extraction (SPE) and fraction collection (FC), and analyze LC-MS/MS data. I worked on a method optimization project where two different procedures for enzymatic hydrolysis were compared to each other, as well as comparing SPE and FC.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the Balbo lab, and it has further confirmed for me that I am passionate about pursuing a master’s degree after I complete my undergraduate coursework. In addition to that, I hope to pursue a career involving laboratory work.

Hello! I’m an M.S. student of Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Milan. I started working in the Balbo Research Group to complete my master’s thesis project during the last year of my program.

I started working in the Balbo lab during my senior year of undergrad before graduating with a BS in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota. 

During my time in the lab, I was able to work on a wide variety of projects. For instance, I helped test the influence of brushing teeth on oral aldehyde levels. Additionally, I annealed oligonucleotides and helped with the optimization of the hydrolysis methods for the Colibactin project. During my second semester in the lab, I was able to do a research project for college credit.

Dr. Balbo encouraged not just learning the protocols but understanding the reasoning behind what each step was doing. I’m glad that I was able to work on and learn about such an array of projects.

I started working in the Balbo Lab during the fall of my senior year of undergrad as I was completing my BS in Biochemistry at the U of M.

I have been able to work on many different projects, but I mainly work with different kinds of chemotherapy drugs. To study the exposure of these drugs in humans and in other animal models, we conduct analysis using HPLC and Mass Spectrometry, two techniques that I had no prior hands-on experience with before joining the lab.

I started working in the Balbo lab during my junior - senior year of undergrad before graduating with a BS in Microbiology from the U of M. 

I was able to work on several projects, learning new methods and techniques each time. These ranged from homogenizing lung tissue of mice exposed to NNK to operating, running acetaldehyde-DNA adduct samples on a mass spectrometry machine, and collecting samples for the biorepository at the MN State Fair. 

In 2018 and 2019, I had the privilege to work in Dr. Silvia Balbo’s lab alongside Dr. Alessia Stornetta, we had worked to understand the role of aldehydes—common constituents of tobacco smoke, alcohol, and the environment—in the increased risk of head and neck cancer in Fanconi Anemia (FA) patients. 

Working in the lab as an undergraduate student motivated me to further explore the MD/PHD programs at the University of Minnesota and inspired me to continue to work in laboratory settings after undergraduate school. Everyone in the lab had been fantastic to work alongside, and each member provided remarkable mentorship, especially in the way that they support and encourage growth in their lab.

I worked on my master’s thesis project in the Balbo lab during my fifth year of college, before graduating in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Milan. 

The ultimate goal of my research project was to identify biomarkers of acetaldehyde exposure to be used to detect alcohol-related genotoxicity and susceptibility, using samples from both in vivo and in vitro studies. HPLC and LC-MS/MS were the central techniques for all my research aims, and I have gained deep knowledge in contributing to the optimization of various experimental conditions and analytical parameters of the methods.  

Dr. Balbo offered me the opportunity to work in a dynamic and exciting environment, and she, along with the other lab members, helped me to successfully reached my goals as a scientist. I’ll always bring this amazing experience with me. 

While working in the Balbo lab, I learned a great deal about their research investigating the carcinogenic effects of the compound acetaldehyde, present in the body in the breakdown of alcohol. While in the lab part-time, I learned protocols for inspecting DNA modifications, helped with preparing solutions and reagents, and helped with performing the necessary analyses after collecting data. I also learned about planning and organizing the workflow for the experiments, from setting up a study, to acquiring test subjects, to collecting samples, to performing tests and analyses on those samples. 

My time in the Balbo lab was highly valuable for me in not only learning new techniques and information, but in learning more about the way one should think and approach problems as a researcher.