Mentoring undergraduate researchers
Summer 2014: Charlene came to our lab for the summer as a participant in the Bridge to Neuroscience Program at Michigan State University. The Bridge Program here at Michigan State University is in collaboration with Puerto Rican universities and the Research Initiative in Science and Engineering (RISE) Program. It was designed to increase representation of Hispanic students in the field of neuroscience. Students enter this program in the last 2 years of undergraduate study and continue through their first 2 years in a PhD program. Charlene worked with me and learned a number of skills. She recorded live cell calcium responses from neonatal mouse olfactory epithelium tissue, and she looked at inflammation with plasma extravasation studies. Both studies involved small animal surgeries, preparation of solutions and treatment dosages, and microscopy. Charlene presented her results in a paper and orally in a Powerpoint presentation to her fellow Bridge program participants and leaders. She also presented her results with a research poster at the Mid-Michigan Symposium for Undergraduate Research Experiences (Mid-SURE).
Summer 2013: Stephanie Romero Rosa (left) and Dianarys Hernandez-Aquino (right) are microbiology majors from University of Puerto Rico-Arecibo. They worked with me for 6 weeks, during which they learned how to run polymerase chain reactions (PCR), write protocols, manage animal colonies, and of course, troubleshoot experiments. Dianarys and Stephanie helped to collect tissue and genotype our transgenic mouse colony to learn the PCR protocol, and then they worked on separate projects. Dianarys helped me out by extracting RNA from mouse olfactory epithelium, converting that RNA to cDNA using reverse-transcriptase PCR, and then used PCR and gel electrophoresis to amplify and indicate the expression of two receptors in the RNA of mouse OE, namely TRPV1 and TRPA1. Stephanie learned the same skills in order to demonstrate the expression of cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 RNA, also in the mouse olfactory epithelium. They successfully completed these experiments and also wrote up their findings in a paper and presented to their summer research program.
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Summer 2011: María Elena Castelló Toro (middle row, right) from University of Puerto Rico-Cayey came to work in the Hegg lab as part of the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP). SROP students are involved in many different activities. On top of the work they put in at the lab, they participate in a statistics camp, present their findings to other program participants and facilitators on a weekly basis, attend research seminars and professional development workshops, work on writing research papers in a writing workshop, and present their findings in a paper and at the MSU Undergraduate Research Symposium. I mentored María Elena in her summer research experience. She learned various skills, such as performing immunohistochemistry, enzyme-linked immunoassays, tissue culturing, as well as data collection and analysis, and presenting results in a manuscript and Powerpoint presentation. In addition to training her in the lab and helping with her paper and presentation, I participated in some of the events for her program. I attended the SROP 2011 Graduate School Networking Dinner ("Attract, Engage, and Develop the Next Generation of Graduate Students"), where I was part of a group of graduate students that met with the summer researchers to talk to them about the realities of graduate school and our views on careers and employment. I also served as a judge of oral presentations at the 2011 University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum. María Elena was a very enthusiastic student who did very well in this research experience. Indeed, she went on to win a presentation award: 2011 National Center for Institutional Diversity Exemplary Summer Research Citation, an award given to promote the very best scholarly work by 2011 SROP participants. This award gave her the opportunity to present her research again, at the Committee on Institutional Cooperation SROP Conference, in Columbus, OH, July 15-17.