Jessica Myer
Sophomore, Health Science
University of Missouri
2019 STRIDE Fellow

My Research Project

This summer I had the opportunity to be an American Physiological Society (APS) Short-Term Research Education Program to Increase Diversity in Health-Related Research (STRIDE) Fellow and work alongside Dr. Stanley Andrisse in the endocrinology laboratories at Howard University and Georgetown University. Our labs study the mechanisms of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), non–alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and insulin resistance. PCOS is the leading cause of infertility among women and affects many more women than statistics suggest. As a consequence of premature use of hormonal birth control, a large population of women may be unaware that they have symptoms of PCOS. In order for our mouse model to exhibit the symptoms of PCOS, we gave them low-dose testosterone and monitored them. NAFLD is a continuum of liver inflammation that inhibits the liver’s ability to process lipids normally, which causes fat accumulation. We induced NAFLD in our mouse model by feeding a high-fat diet for 30 days before tissue extraction. We were specifically looking at the mechanisms behind the lipid accumulation in hopes of discovering how therapies for the reversal of consequences are associated with insulin resistance, NAFLD and PCOS. The better understanding of the processes will be beneficial to combating obesity and the sister diagnoses that come along with it.

Realities of Research

There have been many parts of research that surprised me or were not as I expected. The biggest shock to me was how long it would take to complete one process. For example, running a Western Blot —the main technique I have been doing—takes an entire day for each step. Western blots are used to detect specific proteins in samples. The entire cycle for one blot takes a week, but thankfully I was able to work with four blots at a time. I was surprised at how relaxed the lab environment was, as there was a lot of down time while tests are being run, but there is always something to work on. In the lab, I learned many techniques that were used to discover protein concentrations, RNA concentrations, protein presence and so much more. As expected, the experiments had their ups and downs. We had some great weeks of data and some days where I would take an image and not get any significant results. Overall, I would say that we made great progress this summer. Most of our results have been as expected; although, when we cross a road bump, there are many tweaks we can make. We can increase the amount of sample in our Western Blots, increase the time we block the blots between antibodies, increase wash time or increase the concentration of antibodies. If none of those steps resolve the problem, we go back to published research to see what other scientists have done and how we might be able to learn from them. We never had to start over due to error, but we did complete an extraction during my last few weeks of research which was the beginning of the sampling process.  I thought it was so cool to see exactly where the samples come from and how they are obtained. The research question has not changed. In fact, it has become more focused as we gained more data for the control and knock out samples. Our research is ongoing and I am excited to see what the future holds.

Life as a Scientist

The day-to-day life of a scientist is very rewarding. It is exciting to go into work and be able to see changes and progress that are being made. I was surprised by the laid-back environment and the independence of it all. Once I was fully trained on a technique, I was able to run it on my own and also how to correct errors. I was impressed with how much I was able to multitask in the lab. One of the best parts of working in a lab was being able to see the data come together as publishable images and also images that I took was a great experience. The biggest adjustment for me was getting up so early, since I worked in the lab—across the city—starting at 7a.m. Although this seemed so early at the beginning of the summer, it turned out to be perfect time. I was able to manage well my schedule and had the late afternoons and nights to explore the wonderful city of Washington D.C. I accomplished so much in the lab as well as had a wonderful tourist experience. The worst part of this summer was ending my summer research experience and leading back to school! I loved being in the lab and working with Tina and Bobby and the other lab assistants. Tina is about to start her third year of medical school at Howard University and Bobby went to international medical school and is applying for his Master’s in Public Health.

References

PCOS Challenge Inc. (Ed.). (n.d.). What is PCOS? Retrieved from https://www.pcoschallenge.org/what-is-pcos/

Stewart, C. (2016, November 14). Pierce BCA Protein Assay Kit For Quantitative Total Protein. Retrieved from https://www.biocompare.com/Product-Reviews/239559-Pierce-BCA-Protein-Assay-Kit-for-quantitative-total-protein/

Jessie Myer is a sophomore majoring in health science at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo. She is a 2019 Short-Term Research Education Program to Increase Diversity in Health-Related Research (STRIDE) Fellow working in Dr. Stanley Andrisse’s lab at the Howard University College of Medicine and Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Jessie’s fellowship is funded by the American Physiological Society and through a grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (Grant #1 R25 HL115473-01). After graduation, Jessie plans to attend medical school and become a pediatric cardiologist.