Archive for category: Student Spotlight

Alana is a senior majoring in Mathematics and Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences. This summer she was selected as one of only six UCLA students to participate in the JIFRESSE program. As part of the program, she is currently working with mentors, Dr. Olga Kalashnikova (JPL) and Prof. Jasper Kok (UCLA). Alana recently gave a great presentation on her research project covering the optical properties of coarse desert dust during the JIFRESSE end of year culmination.

Alana has also participated in the Undergraduate Research Fellow Program, a highly competitive scholarship program that supports undergraduates conducting research in the STEM fields.

How did you first get involved in your research project?

My mentor, Dr. Jasper Kok, actually emailed our department, looking for an undergraduate research assistant for his group. I provided my resume and interviewed for the position. After working with Professor Kok and his team for two quarters, I was able to continue my research and collaborate with my group from UCLA along with scientists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory through the summer internship program JIFRESSE.

How would you describe your research experience at UCLA?

Doing research at UCLA has easily been one of my favorite parts of my college experience. UCLA is a research university, so almost every professor is working on an interesting project. In my experience, most professors are eager to teach undergraduates who show initiative. My first research experience was with Dr. Marcelo Chamecki, who provided me with an incredible opportunity to do hands-on research my first year at UCLA. I got involved with his research group simply by going to his office hours and asking questions. After practicing coding and participating in Professor Chamecki’s research, I had skills that helped me achieve my other research goals.

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

Do it! Take initiative! No one is going to hunt you down and ask you to participate in their research. You need to reach out. It can definitely be daunting to talk to extremely accredited professors about their research and how to get involved, but once you get started, you see that most professors care a lot about teaching undergraduates (and have made it a priority for years). Research allows you to gain skills and apply your knowledge in ways that actually excite you. Doing research is the best way to figure out what you are interested in but also to discover many different areas and fields that you wouldn’t otherwise experience.

What are your future career goals?

Even in my senior year at UCLA, this question still scares me a bit. Add in a global pandemic, and my goals are seeming more and more obscure. Overall, I want to pursue higher education and research. My experiences at UCLA have shown me an appreciation for educating future generations of scientists and also for conducting research. However, as I mentioned, pursuing my goals has often opened doors that I didn’t know even existed such as my summer internship. I am eager to continue my education and see what opportunities I have to benefit my field and create positive changes overall.

Celine is a senior majoring Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology and currently works with UCLA’s Dr. Lily Wu, whose research focuses on developing gene therapy protocol to treat cancer patients.

Celine was named a co-author on two recently published papers titled “Mouse- and patient-derived CAM xenografts for studying metastatic renal cell carcinoma” and “Comparing Metastatic Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Model Established in Mouse Kidney and on Chicken Chorioallantoic Membrane.”

As an undergraduate, Celine has been involved in many of the URC’s programs and is currently in the CARE Scholars Program.

How did you first get involved in your research project?

I first got involved in research by participating in UCLA’s Biomedical Sciences Enrichment Program (BISEP) the summer of my freshman year, which I heard about through the PEERS program. It was in this program that I learned basic lab techniques and I realized my passion for research. After the program ended, I began looking for research mentors on my major’s faculty website. From there, I read about their research and I started emailing PI’s whose research pursuits interested me about my interest in participating in their research project. I did a few interviews with PI’s and I got a feel for the environment in the lab and the responsibilities lab’s gave to undergraduate researchers. I was very lucky to find my PI (Dr. Lily Wu) and my graduate student mentor (Moe Ishihara). I have been conducting research in Dr. Wu’s lab for two years now, working on establishing a new animal model – the chicken – in order to study a specific type of kidney cancer.

How would you describe your research experience at UCLA?

It is definitely one of the best experiences I have had at UCLA. It was intimidating at first because I saw so many people doing so many amazing things such as writing full papers and presenting their research and all of that seemed a little out of my reach. And what I most love about my research experience at UCLA is the amount of support that I have received from the URC as well as from my lab and I have just grown tremendously from this experience both as a scientist and as a person. On top of this, I have met so many great people who are now my mentors and friends in the undergraduate research community at UCLA.

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

I would say to not get discouraged when first trying to find a lab to get involved in research. It took me two full quarters of writing emails to PI’s about my interest in research that I finally found a lab with a workplace culture that I could see myself thriving in.  Within that time, only a few emailed me back (they are busy people!). You just have to keep trying!

What are your future career goals?

Even though I have been involved in research for the majority of my undergraduate career, I have decided to go to medical school after taking a gap year. In medical school, I am still planning on getting involved in research. In the future, I want to be a physician and I think all my years of research have really helped me understand how research informs medical practice.