Archive for month: April, 2021

Meet UCLA senior, Kevin Sun, who is double majoring in Human Biology and Society, and Asian Studies. Kevin recently published a paper titled, “A Mouse Model to Investigate the Role of Cancer-associated Fibroblasts in Tumor Growth” in JoVE Journal.

Kevin is a part of Dr. Hilary Coller’s lab in the Department of Molecular, Cell and Development Biology.

 

How did you first get involved in your research project?

I got to know my research project (and the lab, in general) through the biomedical research minor. Previously I was a volunteer research assistant for a different lab, so I had some research experience. But I wished to have more independence in terms of planning my own experiments and working on them by myself to better prepare myself for graduate school. So I asked the minor’s director, Dr. Ira Clark for advice. He informed me that my PI, Dr. Coller was recruiting undergraduate students back then and briefly introduced the projects to me, which sounded really fascinating. When I met with Dr. Coller, within the short period of time listening to her explaining the projects, I was able to tell that she is really committed to training undergraduate researchers. Her ability of breaking down the scientifically complicated projects and explaining them in a really detailed but understandable way really inspired me. And the active projects at that time fall perfectly on my research interest, which is basic/translational cancer biology. I met with my mentor on the same day and immediately started to work on the day after, which is so far the best decision I have ever made in college. With the help of my PI and postdoc mentors, I spent a quarter or two to learn the skills and complete the training, then started to work on experiments individually or even plan for my own experiments.

How would you describe your research experience at UCLA?

If I would describe my research experience in a couple of words, I would say “rewarding”, “intriguing” and “nerve-wrecking”. My lab works with many clinically relevant projects and many of our studies have clinically applicable significance. Therefore as an aspiring MD/PhD student, seeing any progress in our projects always feels really rewarding and makes me want to go back to lab right away the next day. On the other hand, there are so many unanswered questions in everyday research that constantly intrigue me (which also really stresses the importance of asking questions!). And in terms of nerve-wrecking, doing an important experiment for the very first time by myself always gives me a lot of stress. But again, these experiences are also extremely valuable for my future’s training and being able to do them is a really self-rewarding process itself.

What is one piece of advice you have for other students thinking about getting involved in research?

I would suggest everyone interested in doing research to read more papers! The ability to read and understand scientific literature is incredibly important, especially if you are planning to go to medical school or graduate school in the future. When you are planning to join a lab, reading some previous papers published by the principal investigator is the best way to catch up with their current research goals and familiarize yourself with potential topics that might come up during the interview with the PI. Reading a lot of papers after joining a lab is just equally as important as before joining a lab. There are numerous techniques that you would not be learning without the protocol papers. And there are also numerous updates in the field everyday that as a scientist you have to keep yourself up with. Therefore, I would suggest other undergraduate peers to learn how to interpret scientific articles and read a lot of them!

What are your future career goals?

Coming into UCLA as a pure pre-med student, my participation in research in the past three years really shifted my goal from just being a physician to a physician-scientist. I find the intersectionality of physician-scientists’ career truly attractive. Therefore in the long term, I see myself going into academic medicine as both a healthcare professional and a basic scientific researcher, likely in areas of cancer biology. And in the short term, I plan to work as a research associate during my gap years and then (hopefully) matriculate into a MD/PhD program.

Francesca DePrima is a UCLA senior, majoring in Environmental Science and minoring in Environmental Engineering. She recently published a paper titled, “Distribution of microplastics in soil and freshwater environments: Global analysis and framework for transport modeling” in Environmental Pollution.

Francesca currently works in Dr. Sanjay Mohanty’s lab in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering.

 

How did you first get involved in your research project?

When I first started the introductory course for Environmental Engineering taught by my Principal Investigator (PI) Dr. Mohanty, I had never learned about green infrastructure or its applicability. After hearing about his research on subsurface process, green infrastructure, and remediation in class, I wanted to learn more about the field and went to his office hours to talk more about his work and the opportunities for undergraduates in his lab. I was able to learn about some of the research projects in the lab, and I was particularly interested in the projects centered around studying microplastics as an emerging contaminant. I got involved in projects examining microplastics as a pollutant in stormwater biofilters and the project in which I was recently published as a co-author, a study on the global distribution of microplastics in soil and freshwater environments.

 

How would you describe your research experience at UCLA?

My research experience has been very rewarding. When I first started at UCLA, I was amazed by all the research opportunities available to undergraduates and knew I wanted to get involved with research, even though I did not know what my own interests were until I began taking courses for my minor. From my experience in Dr. Mohanty’s lab, I have not only learned technical skills in lab work and writing scientific research papers, but have also discovered some of my research interests in stormwater remediation that I will be able to take with me to industry and throughout my career. This is particularly because the lab has a large focus on mentorship and in teaching undergraduates.

 

What is one piece of advice you have for other students thinking about getting involved in research?

Before joining a lab, it is very important to do your research on the work of different labs in departments you are interested in. By looking at some of the publications from the PI or members of the lab, you can learn about their work and get an idea of if it fits with your interests. After finding a lab you want to work in, it is also crucial to continue to show initiative in getting involved in a research project. Additionally, while I would tell other students to find a lab conducting research on something you are interested in or passionate about, I would recommend to jump in and take advantage of the opportunities available even if you are not certain about what you are interested in researching. As an undergraduate, you may not know exactly what you are interested in when first starting research, but through persistence to get involved and gaining experience in a variety of research projects, you can learn where your own research interests lie.

 

What are your future career goals?

After earning my Master’s, I plan to go into industry as a water resources engineer. In particular, I want to continue working with stormwater treatment systems and technology and researching emerging contaminants. Throughout my career, I hope to implement green infrastructure and new stormwater treatment technologies to diversify our water portfolio, more effectively manage our water resources, and work to reduce inequities in access to clean water.