Overview
Research at the Mack lab has been among my most formative experiences at UW. As an undergraduate researcher I work on disease modelling for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy using patient derived induced pluripotent stem cells. Currently I am pursuing my senior capstone project at the lab and have been a lab member for over two years. This experience is important to me because it has been instrumental in driving my future plans and career choices by giving me exposure to research as a field and allowing me to explore my interests in the field more deeply.
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Personal Importance
Research has been an interest that I wanted to explore during my undergraduate career at UW. I was also interested in stem cells and wanted an opportunity to explore them further. I did start research in my freshman year at UW however I found the Mack lab in the winter of my sophomore year and joined shortly after an interview with Dr. David Mack. This experience has helped me understand the field of research much better and has been instrumental in guiding my career interests in becoming a scientist and working in academia. Through this research experience, I learned that I want to pursue a PhD in Bioengineering and focus on stem cell therapy and work towards making stem cell therapy a clinical reality. My research experience has also helped me identify the current needs in the field of research and helped me develop a better understanding of the current challenges we face in using stem cells as viable models of the human body. During my time at the Mack lab, I have learned how to work in teams, analyze and break down information and develop various wet lab skills. This experience is also important to be because I have twice been a successful Mary gates scholar through my work at the lab in addition to receiving the ISCRM fellowship in the summer of 2019.
Tasks Accomplished
Beating cardiomyocytes at day 12 of differentiation
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As an undergraduate researcher, I acquired multiple wet-lab skills mainly focused on cell culture techniques and directed differentiation. Specifically, I learned cardiac and skeletal muscle differentiation from patient derived induced pluripotent stem cells. I also learned technical writing and communication for technical and general audiences. I also received three scholarships to support my research at the Mack lab including two awards of the Mary gates research scholarship and the Institute of Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Summer Fellowship. I also presented my research at the Undergraduate research symposium in 2020.
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Competencies Gained
Research-
Throughout my research career at the Mack lab, I have had to find answers to questions whether it was regarding questions related to my project or conducting literature searches to understand my area of research of prior art in the field. I demonstrated research through these literature reviews wherein I evaluated and comprehended prior work in the field and listed top publications in the field before researching them further to understand current needs in the field. This literature review process was specifically very important in designing my senior year research capstone project. I see this competency being very important for me in my future work since I plan to build a career in academia and research will be an integral part of my work. Analysis- In research, I performed analysis while studying data produced from my experiments. Some of the equipment that I used at lab produced a lot of data on different metrics and values but only some of these were of importance. In my analysis, I had to identify important metrics, for example in the case of cardiac muscle being studied on microelectrode array systems, I had to select metrics of importance such as beat rate and time to 90% relaxation and relate these to previous data and publications to confirm that my cells were reacting as expected. Problem Solving- This competency is most clearly seen in my research capstone project design. The issue I am addressing is the need for a plating method that is easy to learn and reproducible for plating cells in microelectrode array systems. This is a problem faced my many researchers like me and I am solving this problem by developing an assistive plating device that will ensure consistent and accurate cell plating. I identified this problem while using a microelectrode array system myself and while discussing plating with some of my fellow lab members. I see problem solving as in important life skill too since it helps me address challenges, I face far beyond my research work like my personal life and even other activates and engagements. I think Problem solving as a core value has also been important for me in navigating the COVID-19 pandemic and working with the sudden changes in my lifestyle and the new challenges that arose with it. Receiving Feedback- Being receptive to feedback had been one of the most important skills I developed in lab. I think it is essential to take feedback in the way it is meant and not personally. Often my first drafts of several research proposals have been sub-par and I have had to put in a lot of effort to make them better. Similarly, while presenting at lab meetings or while preparing to present at the research symposium, I have received feedback on how to improve my presentations. I think as a young and growing scholar, it is essential to remain open to feedback from my peers at lab since it can be crucial to my growth and development as a researcher. |
Writing-
While applying for the scholarships and fellowships that I received as a member of the Mack lab, I had to convey my research proposals in a way that could be comprehended by both experts in the field and a general reviewer. I achieved this by investing time on my writing and being receptive to feedback. Over several drafts for each proposal, I learned how to make my writing style concise and maintaining a balance between using too much scientific jargon and not explaining my research proposals well enough. Writing is a crucial value as it is one of the primary forms of expression in academia and also industry. Proficiency in this competency is something I will continue to pursue as being able to communicate ideas clearly and effectively is a skill I will need regardless of my career choices. Plan- Cell culture required me to plan my next step on a daily basis, since my schedule heavily depends on the progress of my cells, I have to plan and strike a balance between being able to commit enough time to lab to maintain my cell cultures and classes and all other activities. Additionally, there are a lot of preparation steps involved in cell culture that I need to be aware of and plan for on a daily basis. I have also built longer plans for example when developing my proposal for my Bioengineering senior research capstone project. This competency has been important in research and my personal life alike. I feel that being able to plan things helps me handle my day and various activities more efficiently and also mentally prepare me for what is coming up. Functioning Independently- Over my time at the Mack lab, I have made progress towards becoming an independent researcher. After being trained by my mentor and PI, I have learned how to plan and execute my research activities on my own with minimal supervision but also keeping my PI and mentor updated about my activities and progress in the lab. This is also a crucial part of my lab experience and will be particularly handy in grad school once I begin my PhD. Follow-through- In my research lab, my mentor and PI are typically very busy and so in order to keep things moving, it is important that I am a part of the process and make efforts to ensure that I am able to match their timelines and meet commitments on a schedule that is easy to follow for them. Often this involves completing tasks on my own after being assigned with one. If I do not know who to ask and how to get help on a certain task, I make the effort to find out who the best resources in my lab would be and ask them for advice. This has been a crucial part of my independent research capstone. Collaboration: My capstone project comes with a lot more independence in designing my own experiments and working with my lab mates to find better solutions to the challenges I face in my own work. Over the course of my capstone, collaboration with my lab mates has become a crucial part of my project since many have far more experience than me and make excellent resources for me to work with and problem solve together. I feel that this is an important competency and one which will always be important in any situation I have to work in teams or between teams. |
Lessons Learned & Future
This research experience has been crucial in helping me develop the skills an independent researcher needs in order to be successful. It has taught me how to communicate with lab members, present my work to general and expert audiences in written and oral forms and also helped me learn multiple techniques that scientists like me use in labs. The competencies that I gained through this experience will be very important for my success in grad school and will also become very handy in other leadership roles and roles that require working in diverse teams.