Studying cellular neuroscience makes me appreciate the complex balance of cellular protein composition needed to maintain normal neuronal functioning. Meanwhile, doing clinical psychology research makes me appreciate the opportunity to interact with people in research. My interest in studying underlying cellular mechanisms and human-to-human interactions in research led to my interest in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), especially as it can manifest itself into dementia, a condition marked strongly by memory loss.
Therefore, the O’Neil lab that is starting to pivot its study from ALS to Alzheimer’s disease, seems to be the perfect lab to me. After a semester-long training in the lab, I was finally entrusted with a research project, an ALS project. It was not my first project choice, but I was still happy. ALS is a type of neurodegenerative disease, and I believe the knowledge that I get from researching it applies to my intended study of Alzheimer’s disease. Moreover, my pursuit of studying Alzheimer’s disease can happen outside of my lab.
In researching ALS, I delegated soft skills that I honed through training in the lab. Among other things, I organized my lab notebook to track my experiment better, asked for questions and assistance after unsuccessful troubleshooting attempts, and let myself marinate in my experimental data to infer more appropriate conclusions. I also learned new skills, including molecular biology techniques to investigate protein aggregation and expression, as well as the skill to communicate about my research.
Over time, I developed a better appreciation of my research project. I started to read about it outside of lab hours, and, after a conversation with my lab PI, I applied for a fellowship from the College of the Environment to further study it during the summer. As I delve deeper into research, I am interested in seeing how my experiences studying ALS can be applied to the study of Alzheimer’s disease.
