Major: Neuroscience Research Department: Molecular Biology/Neuroscience Graduation Date: Fall 2019
Abstract:Early onset dystonia is a muscle condition that affects ~20,000 Americans per year. (NIH) In previous studies, this anomaly has been found to be related to a specific gene mutation, TOR1a∆E. This mutation also is directly related to the mislocalization of LaminB1, a protein that is fundamental for keeping the structure of the nucleus intact due to its functions. With this project, and having previous data from other studies, the purpose is to get to understand the potential regulator of the mislocalization caused by the mutation through direct lineage reprogramming processes and chemical screenings, combined with other further studies, e.g. electrophysiological studies. Email:[email protected]
What does research mean to you? At the beginning of my undergraduate I did not know much about my research, but as the time went by p, I started having opportunities with mentors, and different research areas such as neuroscience, psychology, biology, etc. with the time I started appreciating the processes of research and all the skills you can get from it, and also started to implement critical thinking and soft skills into my daily life. I believe research has been a factor that has made me grow as a student and as a person and I really enjoy being part of such an amazing field.
Tell us about your journey. My journey had a little, but of everything. I started in the lab, of course with a lot of questions and a lot of procedures, methods, and strategies to learn, but I took my time to understand every single detail as much as I could from theory to practice. This made me be prepared for each day of the semester and one thing that stood to me was that I had never realized how much attention to detail you require when it comes to the field I was in. Other than the first weeks of training and the constant feeling of not Knowing what was I doing, I had several rocky moments due to the unavailability of the person that was guiding me through the process, and also because some materials that were extremely needed for my experiment were not working but I figured everything out little by little, being patience and just giving myself time to process, ask, and ppf finish what I started.
Advice for Future Green Fellows
Make sure you do your research about the labs you are interested at, so that you can have the best opportunities to learn and a chance to deeply engage in the Green Fellowship Journey.