By Kynza Khimani, Peer Research AmbassadorWhen people talk about their research experiences, they often focus on the positives. But what do you do when your research experience is not what you expected it to be? What if your academic interests and career goals have shifted?
If you find yourself asking one of these questions, then you may be able to relate to my research journey. Continue reading
Meet Elisa Shaholli ’23, an OUR Peer Research Ambassador (PRA) majoring in Economics and minoring in English and Global Studies.
What is the focus of your research?
I do research in the field of Disability Studies! It’s a field that’s interdisciplinary and can span from Economics to English to Psychology and more. I’ve done a research project concerning the analysis of disability in film (a project that was primarily rooted in the English discipline), a project about the social experience of diabetes and disability “passing” (a project rooted in social sciences), and am planning on making Economics and disability a focus for my thesis!
Why did you get involved in research?
In high school, whenever I learned about disability or disease in any context, it was always biomedical or scientific. I never was really exposed to disability in regards to history or sociology or even in literary texts, even though a very large portion of the world population has a disability of some kind. I wanted to work on research concerning disability in social contexts, and Disability Studies was the perfect field for that. Hopefully through my research, people can at least learn a bit more than they originally did! Continue reading
By Lauren Rudin, Peer Research AmbassadorIt’s the second month of school, midterms are coming up quickly and alongside studying you have your weekly research tasks. Everything seems to be a top priority, but you know that something will eventually have to give. Sound familiar? I’ve been in this position several times, and from my own experience I can tell you that (1) everything will be ok, and (2) you need to let your PI know. Continue reading
Meet Stephanie Schofield ’23, an OUR Peer Research Ambassador (PRA) majoring in Molecular & Cell Biology and minoring in Psychological Sciences and Chemistry.
What is the focus of your research?
I currently do research in Dr. Wendy Mok’s lab at UConn Health where I am focusing on microbial interactions and their impacts on antibiotic treatment response.
Why did you get involved in research?
To start, I have really enjoyed my major-related courses so far at UConn and from the start of my college career, I always knew I wanted to get involved in research. I am super passionate about my education and I enjoy learning, so I wanted to take it to the next level. I am also a big hands-on learner, so furthering my education through research was a rewarding idea to me. Continue reading
Imagine this scenario: you’re eager to participate in undergraduate research and find a professor whose work interests you. You come across one of their papers and once you open it up, it’s in an alien language. This situation is all too familiar to many undergraduates (including myself). Hopefully, this how-to guide with some tips that have helped me in my research journey will be of use to you. Continue reading
Meet Mahima Mehta ’22, an OUR Peer Research Ambassador (PRA) majoring in Molecular & Cell Biology and minoring in Spanish.
What is the focus of your research?
I have been working in Dr. Sarah Knutie’s lab since January 2020 as a member of the Nest Parasite Community Science Study. In this project, I quantify parasite abundance in the nests of eastern bluebirds and tree swallows to understand the effects of local ecology on the evolution of hosts and their nest parasites.
As someone who has always been interested in climate change and DNA, the focus of my UConn IDEA Grant project is to understand how elevated nest temperatures impact the DNA methylation of eastern bluebirds. We often see the physical effects of climate change: unusual snowstorms, devastating fires, and destruction of habitats- but what genotypic impact does this have? In my project, I will be investigating why it is adaptive for these birds to have changes in methylation in response to temperature and if this is helping them over their lifetime. Continue reading
Meet Chloe Zampetti ’22, an OUR Peer Research Ambassador (PRA) majoring in Natural Resources.
What is the focus of your research?
My research is focused on interactions between elements mercury and selenium in fish. There is a theory that when there is more selenium present than mercury within a fish, the selenium can cancel out mercury toxicity by binding up all of the mercury, making it safe for human consumers. This is a really cool concept and would have lots of implications for human health, but there are some aspects to the research that could use updating and further attention.
With my research, I want to see how measures of human health risk based on selenium and mercury concentrations compare to metrics based on mercury concentrations alone. This way, I can emphasize the importance of understanding selenium’s potential ability to mitigate mercury toxicity before it is considered an official metric of human health risk via fish consumption. Continue reading
By Drew Tienken, Peer Research AmbassadorThink about what you envision when you think of a student research experience. You might imagine someone with a white lab coat hunched over a test tube and meticulously pipetting solutions in search of data. Maybe you think of the lab itself, a pristine little box of four walls full of intimidating equipment and complicated scientific machinery. When imagining what you want your research experience to look like, I challenge you to fight the stigma of this research stereotype, and realize that not all labs have to have four walls. Continue reading
Meet Lauren Rudin ’22, an OUR Peer Research Ambassador (PRA) majoring in Exercise Science and minoring in Biological Sciences.
What is the focus of your research?
“Fitbit-Derived and Self-Reported Sleep Quality and Gestational Weight Gain in Women with Overweight or Obesity”, supervised by Dr. Molly Waring and funded by a UConn IDEA Grant, is comparing Fitbit-derived and self-reported sleep quality among pregnant women in their third trimester with pre-pregnancy overweight or obesity who gained gestational weight within or above recommended ranges. The aims are to assess how well the two sleep measures agree and to identify the potential use of a Fitbit device to assess sleep during pregnancy.
“Professional Exercise Recommendations for Healthy Women Who Are Pregnant: A Systematic Review”, supervised by Dr. Linda Pescatello, is assessing existing professional exercise recommendations for healthy pregnant women to formulate a consensus exercise prescription to better inform clinicians on an appropriate exercise program for pregnant patients without contraindications to exercise. Continue reading
Meet Kynza Khimani ’22, an OUR Peer Research Ambassador (PRA) majoring in Physiology & Neurobiology and Global Health.
What is the focus of your research?
My current research for my UConn IDEA Grant project focuses on studying the accessibility and barriers faced by families with children afflicted with Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) in the implementation of healthy diets using a survey and interviewing physicians who treat PANS patients. PANS is an increasingly prevalent chronic condition that can manifest in children as severe OCD and anxiety, disordered eating, and developmental deficits. Because PANS symptoms are often a result of neuroinflammation and gut dysbiosis, studies suggest that replacing industrialized foods with an all-organic, gluten and dairy-free diet is often vital for treatment. Continue reading