Caroline Ceravolo is in her senior year at Western Washington University (WWU) in Bellingham, Washington. At WWU, she researches SH3 and PDZ protein domains and their binding interactions in Dr. Jeanine Amacher’s research lab. As an Amgen Scholar at UCLA, Caroline is working in Dr. Ajit Divakaruni’s lab in the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology. For the summer she is researching the metabolism of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The RPE is a monolayer of pigmented cells located between the retina and the choroid. It plays many critical roles in eye health, including phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segments (POSs). POSs are located within photoreceptor cells, found in the outermost layer of the retina. To maintain the health and functionality of the photoreceptor cells, these segments undergo a constant renewal, with discs grown near to the base while distal POSs are phagocytosed by adjacent RPE cells in a process called outer segment phagocytosis (OSP). The RPE utilizes alternative substrates for its own metabolism, sparing glucose for the metabolism needs of photoreceptor cells. One of the hypothesized forms of alternative substrates are the POSs themselves. To determine if metabolites in the POSs are being used by the RPE, Caroline is using carbon tracing experiments. Caroline would like to thank Dr. Jeanine Amacher for her encouragement to go for this opportunity, Dr. Ajit Divakaruni and the entire Divakaruni Lab for their incredible mentorship and support, and the Amgen Foundation for giving her the opportunity to continue to grow as a scientist.