How was your experience with the program?
I really enjoyed the past two months I spent in Madison. Being able to learn valuable research skills and work in a field that I am passionate about was very rewarding and helpful in becoming a better scientist. The professors and lab members I got to work under and learn from were great at guiding me into something I had never really done before. I also had a great time with the other students and the program, and exploring the city was especially fun.
What was the most exciting thing you learned?
The most exciting thing I learned was the various sets of programming skills that are fundamental to all types of research in the biomedical field. It was challenging to understand at first but thankfully over time, I got more comfortable with it. These skills are vital to all computational types of research so I know that what I learned will be invaluable in the future.
What was your research project about?
For my project, I looked at how the immune system developed in infants, and how bacterial exposure to a specific type of potentially beneficial bacteria affected the development of different types of immune cells found in the blood. I spent most of my time learning how to use computational methods to perform this analysis, and then after I got to interpret the results.
How has this program and working with your professor/research team helped you develop as a scientist?
This was my first research experience, and I learned a lot about how labs operate and how to collaborate with others in research. The professor I worked with was very helpful in giving a good understanding of the research being done on the various different types of projects she was working on. I also was able to determine what kind of research topics I am most interested in after learning about the many different things that faculty all around the university are working on.