Hello,
my name is Marina Martínez and I’m currently a senior majoring in
Bioengineering. I am working with Dr. Nitin Agrawal and his PhD. student Steven
Roberts in the Microfluidic Single Cell Analysis Laboratory in Engineering
(µ-SCALE), located at Krasnow Institute of Advanced Studies. I am studying the
influence of osmolarity on epithelial cell phenotype.
On a
weekly basis I attend Dr. Agrawal’s lab meetings, where we discuss our projects
individually. By this manner I do not just restrict all my knowledge just in my
project, I actually get to know all the different studies running in the lab.
Besides this, I read scientific papers to familiarize with the field and better
understand all the biological processes happening at cellular level regarding
my research. Reading and listening to other peoples’ studies have habituated me
to the most technical words in my field, which is an essential aspect for my
professional future. Moreover, planning the timeline, as well as designing the
approach, overcoming difficulties during the experiments, etcetera, have made
me become more independent, skillful and confident. Throughout the project I am
also experiencing how team work is and I am learning a lot of lab procedures
such as immunofluorescence, cell culture or how to analyze scientific data. In
brief, I am learning more than I thought I would and this is a big first step
into the scientific community.
OSCAR
and its Undergraduate Research Scholar Program (URSP) have given me the huge
opportunity of experiencing how working in a lab feels. I love the atmosphere
in laboratories and I know that working in one of them is my main intention.
Because of that, being part of the URSP program this summer is a step forward
to my desired future. I am an exchange
student from Spain at GMU, and in my country it is not possible to do an
internship with any professor while you are in college. Therefore, being part
of this program has meant for me much more than carrying out an idea; it meant
achieving a goal that would have been impossible to reach back in my country.
