Speakers

1. We noticed that you have a lot of impressive publications! Can you describe the process and tell us your favorite parts about it?

When I started my undergraduate studies, I did not know what I wanted to do -- I started as a chemical engineering major then switched to computer science. By my 3rd year, with one more to go, I realized I needed to figure out what to major in before I graduate. At the time, I was not a huge biology fan. I thought it was too messy. However, I looked at all my credits, and they aligned with those of a biology major, so, in my last undergraduate year, I decided to give biology a chance. I took some more classes and found it actually really exciting with lots to discover. I then worked as a medical technologist at a fertility clinic in Rockville Maryland; it was exciting to work with patients, going through the process of diagnosis to becoming pregnant, and the eventual success and happiness of giving birth. The roadblocks, on the other hand, were an emotional experience. I followed this career path for about five years, and it eventually became monotonous, doing the exact thing every single day. I realized I couldn’t do this anymore and decided to go back to school and enroll in a biotech program at John Hopkins. I had to do a bit of research for the program, which initiated my excitement in the field of research. From there, I started to look for opportunities after graduation to expand and gain further experience in research. At the time, the economy was really bad and no one was really hiring. When you go to the research lab, they need funding to support you, and so it was difficult to find one. And so, when all else failed, I applied for a PHD program. A Georgetown admissions officer emailed me, inviting me over for a short interview. Basically, she took me by the hand and went from lab to lab to lab to find someone who has funding to support me. I was fine with volunteering, but she insisted I should get paid. One physics professor was merging his profession with biology, researching primarily on hydrogels -- spinal cord neurons. He was trying to build this bridge that allows neurons to grow and reconnect in patients with spinal cord injuries. These bridges aim to provide a supportive environment for axon regeneration and the establishment of new synaptic connections. Out of all the organs I’ve become really interested in the brain -- it’s really awesome and controls all other organs. That professor was collabing with another person in the NIH. I worked for him for a year, reapplied to PHD and got in. I discovered that when neurons are  damaged, sugar will be secreted, which very actively inhibits axonal growth.

2. You’ve mentioned in class your research with mice, what happened there?

We were on the cusp of discovering a novel plasticity gene protein, specifically PRG (Plasticity-Related Gene) protein and PRG5. So we used knockout mice to study the effects of this protein’s loss on sensory-motor function, control, and cognitive capabilities. We did a lot of tests: overall health assessments, vision tests, open field tests for general mobility and anxiety, and fear conditioning (through the water maze test). For the fear conditioning, the mice were in a really large tank of water. We used white paint to make the platform just below the surface of the water. Mice don’t like to get wet. So, we divided the tank into 4 quadrants -- not physically but in your head. In each quadrant, you’ll have visual cues. The mice are supposed to be able to see those cues. Their goal is to find that platform and escape from the water. And well…these mice behaved poorly. We had 7 days to train them, and on test days, you remove the platform and see how fast the mice go to the platform. These mice were worse than those with Alzheimer's mice. It then hit me that it wasn’t just my knock out mice but my controls. We decided to check their vision. They had lost their eyesight and gone completely blind. So, our visual cues didn’t matter…and that’s the beauty of biology! “10 blind mice”. We were really excited over the fact that we had found something. One of the limitations is nonspecific, and we couldn’t get 100% specificity. Not only had it sliced out my gene, but also another section, and allowed a viral gene that had been incorporated into this mouse genome to become active -- this actually causes blindness.

3. What research are you currently doing?

I established my lab at CWRU. It’s just been a month, and my lab is completely empty -- just boxes I need to unload. I’m looking forward to continuing my research. Prior to this, I was chronically jetlagging mice for a month -- changing their light cycle every 2 days. Mice like to groom, and they stopped grooming to the point where I had to change their cages every 3 days. They also had an increased sense of anxiety. When I did cognitive tests, like the Barnes maze. This maze put mice on a platform with 18 holes, all covered with the exception of 1. They had to use visual cues to find the one exception. See, mice are not a fan of bright lights, we used construction lights that also produce heat. They’re supposed to find that one hole and escape into it. I was expecting the jetlagged mice to have impaired cognition. You can use this paradigm to test short and long term memory. To find the hole, you wait a week and test them again. They learned better than the control mice because of that anxiety. These results show how complex the brain is. That’s it. I’m in the fourth week of my lab and I hope to get things moving soon. 

4. If you could go back to your senior year in high school, what advice would you give yourself?

As a senior, I would go into college with an open mind. There are certain things we go into it in mind, don’t be afraid to try something. One of the things for me that I remember is having a class on speeches, and I was petrified. I hated it and avoided it. I even told my professors I was sick, so I didn't get to do it. What I've come to learn is that, if you allow fear to prevent you from embarking on something that can benefit you, you are losing out. You never know, you just might like it. I have students who have told me she was petrified about working w mice. I took her to mouse facility and told her to hold it. She held it and it ran around her hand and she put it down. The first step she accepted it and became more and more comfortable. By the end of her tenure, she was -- these mice, using a needle to force feed them and doing behavioral studies on them, becoming very comfortable with them. Another student wanted to go into med school, she loved taking care of people but was petrified of needles. I told her that there are two things she can do--volunteer at a hospital and watch them draw blood a couple of times or volunteer with EMS. This was a great way to get into med school because you have first hand knowledge, you see humans at their worst. That was something that she actually did, student at Georgetown, volunteered with EMS and got into med school.

5.  Any other thoughts?

Something I’ve noticed with students is that you are all very stressed out and take on too much. You do damage to your bodies!! and accelerated ur aging! You have one life!! Get at least seven hours of sleep -- take it one day at a time. When I had jet lag and got sick, my daughter sleeps at 1 am she never used to get sick now she always gets sick. Take it easy, one day at a time one foot in front of the other.