Reflecting on the Past Year
Hello,
I have now completed my first year of research as a Clare Boothe Luce Research Scholar. Reflecting on the past year, I have acquired many new technical skills. I have become very comfortable with collecting the left vertical human tissue slices for my project and culturing them. I have consistently been optically mapping the slices and continue to work on improving my technique. More recently, I have learned how to prepare and store the tissue for both structural and functional studies. I have also begun learning how to conduct western blots. This is a tedious process, but I am excited to understand molecular research on a deeper level.
I feel that not only have I broadened my skill sets, but I have also become more confident in the workplace. I have grown closer to my peers and superiors. This confidence has also allowed me to gain responsibility in the lab. My post-doctorate supervisor, Dr.Faye, has just left for France and will be gone for all of July. She has put me in charge of the Long-QT2 project while she is gone. I am grateful that she trusts me with such a big responsibility, and I am eager to see what I am fully capable of.
I have one year left to complete my project, and I am currently am track with my project timeline. My goal is to have a published paper in the fall. Every day I am grateful for this experience, and I cannot wait to share my findings with the word.
Best,
Anastasia
Research Outside of the Lab
Hello,
It has been four months since I became a Clare Boothe Luce Research Scholar here at the George Washington University. Since the start of my project I have come a long way. At this point I am able to conduct most of my project alone, having performed each step in my project many times.
Over the past several months, I was able to collect enough data to attend the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Conference, held in Atlanta in October. I submitted an abstract back in late July and was thrilled when I found out I was accepted in September. At the conference I was able to present my data on Long QT alongside other undergraduates, each with their own unique topic of study.
Leading up to the conference I had to design a poster for my presentation. I had not made a poster before, so I worked closely with my mentor Dr. Rokhaya Faye, a post-doctoral researcher in Dr. Efimov’s lab, to make an informative and appealing first poster. After a few weeks of work the results could not have been better. It felt great to be able to represent George Washington University along with the Clare Boothe Luce Foundation as I presented my work to students and professors at the conference.
The conference also provided many opportunities to network. I took advantage of the booths advertising different schools’ graduate programs. Since I am still on the fence about attending graduate school, this was a great way for me to find out my options moving forward. I did not realize how many different programs exist to fit one’s needs perfectly. I look forward to finding out more about the options I have in the coming year as I decide what path is best for me.
The BMES conference was an amazing experience that allowed me to get a taste of what research is like outside of a lab. As I continue to collect data I hope I will have the opportunity to attend more conferences and share my findings with other biomedical engineers.
Best,
Anastasia
Piecing Together the Answers
Hello,
My name is Anastasia Carr and I am a rising junior at George Washington University where I study biomedical engineering. I was fortunate enough to be one of four students chosen as a Clare Boothe Luce (CBL) Reasearch Scholar here at George Washington. As a CBL Research Scholar, I will be keeping a blog to document my experience as a young woman in research.
During my first month of research, I have realized how much preparation it takes before an experiment can be conducted, let alone the time it takes to gather results. Recently, I have been spending much of my time reading academic papers on my topic of interest, the transient outward potassium channel (Ito). Despite this not being the most exciting start to my project, it has been a necessary step for me to fully understand the science behind what I am doing.
I have also realized that there are plenty of unanswered questions that accompany research. For my whole educational career, rarely have I been given a question that does not have an answer. Yet in the short month I have been doing research, I am faced with questions every day. I have learned quickly that achieving a definite answer in science is extremely difficult. I do not find this discouraging though, but rather exciting. Realizing that I may be able to help piece together the answer to an unknown question motivates me to put forth my best effort.
This past week I was able to physically start my experiment. I am already learning how precise one must be when carrying out an experiment since there is so much room for error to occur. In the coming months, I look forward to gaining independence in the lab as I continue to conduct experiments. Be sure to check this blog to read about the experiences my fellow CBL Research Scholars and I have as we conduct our research during the next year!
Best,
Anastasia
Bio
Anastasia is researching a specific type of cardiac arrhythmia under the guidance of her mentor, Igor Efimov, chair of GW’s Department of Biomedical Engineering. His lab studies biophysical mechanisms of cardiac conduction and arrhythmia, including heart rhythm conditions like Long QT Syndrome, which causes fast and chaotic heartbeats that can lead to sudden death. Anastasia will study how silencing a particular gene affects gene expression and whether that can induce Long QT Syndrome in human tissue.