Meet Anne Duong
Major: Biology
Graduation Year: May 2017 Field of Study: Neurology and Neurotherapeutics Abstract: Gulf War Illness (GWI) effects 175,000 – 200,000 U.S. veterans who served in the 1990-1991 Gulf War. Their symptoms include memory and concentration impairment, chronic headache and widespread pain. Chlorpyrifos (CPF), an organophosphate pesticide that reversibly inhibits acetylcholinesterase, has been implicated as being a potential source of the illness. Agriculture workers, exposed to higher than normal levels of CPF, also exhibit symptoms similar to those suffering from GWI. Speed et. al. found low-dose, repeated exposure to CPF resulted in delayed impairment of hippocampal basal transmission after 3 months, but not after 1 week. This replicated the delayed onset of cognitive impairment in GWI veterans. The original vehicle used for injection was DMSO, which caused dermatitis at the injection site. We have switched the vehicle to corn oil to alleviate the side effects and are attempting to replicate the results in order to do future experiments to “treat” GWI changes in our novel animal model. |
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My Experience:
The Green Fellowship program was unlike anything I had experienced before. I had been exposed to research before at UTD but with this program, you are fully immersed in the life of a researcher. With an average of eight hours a day in the lab, I learned many techniques including extracellular “field” electrophysiology, dendritic reconstruction and spine analysis. You are very independent in the lab and although you can feel a bit isolated at times, everyone in the lab is always happy to help. I plan to go to medical school but I also want to continue researching and this experience has been invaluable. I continued working in the summer as a Research Intern and have learned to fully complete my experiments independently, giving IP injections, performing transcardial perfusions, and extracting my own brains. You are very independent in the lab and although you can feel a bit isolated at times, everyone in the lab is always happy to help. |
My Advice:
My advice would to be learn as much as you can. Although it might not be relevant to your project, let your lab members know if you want to learn new techniques during your free time. Everyone understands you are an undergrad and do not expecting you to know everything so if you have questions or concerns, don't be afraid to voice them. This is a great opportunity to experience full time research so make the most out of it, even if you don't think you will be doing research as your career.
My advice would to be learn as much as you can. Although it might not be relevant to your project, let your lab members know if you want to learn new techniques during your free time. Everyone understands you are an undergrad and do not expecting you to know everything so if you have questions or concerns, don't be afraid to voice them. This is a great opportunity to experience full time research so make the most out of it, even if you don't think you will be doing research as your career.