Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Biochemistry Major Explores New Treatments for Microbial Pathogens in Summer Research Internship

Marie Southerland, a junior Biochemistry major, spent her summer conducting research in an internship program at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine.

Marie writes that this “was definitely a great learning experience for me. I was nervous at first but everyone in the lab that I worked in and also the coordinators of the program were always there if I needed anything. I was able to work on my project alongside my mentor’s Ph.D. student who gave me great insight into what it is like to be in grad school. The project that I worked on was titled ‘An analysis of the bacteriophage E79tv-2 in conjunction with current antibiotics to treat Pseudomonas aeruginosa’. Everyday I was in the lab working on this project and I learned more and more each day! By the end of my internship I was surprised to realize that I was totally working on my own! I never imagined that I would be comfortable enough in a lab to not have someone looking over my shoulder to make sure I was doing everything right. I think that small boost of confidence has definitely come with me back to Ashland where I feel much more comfortable in class labs now. I was also able to attend many lectures and workshops on different topics including bioinformatics, chemical safety, radiation safety, and many others. In addition to those workshops, I got to network with professionals and I was able to meet some great people. Overall, my experience in the program was great and I would recommend it to anyone!”

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