How was your experience with the program?
I thought the program was a very worthwhile experience. I had lots of fun with my SROP group and I’m sure that I’ve made strong connections with everyone, and I learned a lot both about my particular subject matter and the process of doing research.
What was the most exciting thing you learned?
The most exciting thing I learned about my subject matter was that the immune system can be used to treat cancer. While this fact/finding itself is exciting, there is not a lot known about this treatment yet. I find this even more exciting since there is still a lot of work to be done in the field that maybe someday I will have the ability to contribute to and participate in.
What was your research project about?
For my summer research project I used computational methods to evaluate cell-to-cell interactions in cancer immunotherapy data. My main findings were that granulocytes and cycling lymphoids were more active in the MHC-I signaling pathway in high response immunotherapy patients.
How has this program and working with your professor/research team helped you develop as a scientist?
I liked how my professor gave me a lot of freedom in how I did my project. I basically learned by trial by error. I found ways of doing things that worked for me while still being scientifically and logically sound. By allowing me to make mistakes, I was able to internalize any feedback better. Even though the learning curve was steep, I think it’s the best way to learn how to do research since research is very unstructured and abstract sometimes so it can’t be “taught” in a structured or organized way.