Peer Research Ambassadors

Learning to Pivot from Setbacks in Research

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By Paul Isaac, Peer Research Ambassador

Student Research Blog - Learning to Pivot from Setbacks in Research. By PRA Paul.Most research articles that you’ll read in Nature or Science will come across as immaculately performed. The data will look amazing, every test and statistical analysis appears carefully orchestrated to elucidate a meaningful result. However, what doesn’t come across is the extensive string of trial and error involved with actually completing these projects and fleshing out the research questions they aim to answer.

Mistakes, setbacks, and failures are natural parts of life and are just as naturally occurring in the lab. As you begin to get involved with research, you’ll inevitable hit your first roadblocks: accidentally pipetting the wrong reagent and messing up an assay, getting results that are the exact opposite of what you were expecting, and the dreaded experience of performing statistical analysis only to be met by non-significant results. During these moments, it’s easy to feel like you’re not “good enough” for research, that your hypotheses were fundamentally wrong, or that your research has hit a dead end. But, just like Rocky said, “It’s not about how hard you can hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” If anything, good researchers aren’t defined by how good they are at getting their questions and results “right” the first time, but how well they can correct, pivot, and investigate their mistakes.

While the Rocky quote might help with your mood, what can you do when you experience setbacks in research? While I can’t provide you with an exhaustive list, I can provide you with some approaches that have worked for me throughout my research journey. Continue reading →

Becoming a Better Researcher by Stepping Outside Your Research

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By Erik Choi, Peer Research Ambassador

Student Research Blog - Becoming a Better Researcher by Stepping Outside Your ResearchAs with many things, the key to becoming a better researcher is practice. Reading more peer-reviewed publications, repeatedly attempting a difficult technique in the lab, scouring through Stack Exchange; these are all effective ways to hone your skills, but it can feel repetitive at times. Constantly being surrounded by the same area of research can feel exhausting and mundane.

One of the best ways to become a better researcher is to pause your own work and hear from other researchers. Learning from other researchers provides a valuable opportunity to learn about relevant topics and techniques from experts in their field. Research in fields of study adjacent to or outside of your field of study has the added benefit of contextualizing your work, showing how your research is interconnected with other areas of research.

For students who are looking for research opportunities, this can be a fantastic foray into research. Presentations and events often gather faculty and graduate students with a variety of research interests and provide a conducive environment for networking. Continue reading →

Meet the PRAs – Stephanie Schofield

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Meet Stephanie Schofield ’23, an OUR Peer Research Ambassador (PRA) majoring in Molecular & Cell Biology and minoring in Psychological Sciences.

Meet the Peer Research Ambassadors - Stephanie Schofield '23.What is the focus of your research?

My research focuses on combating the global problem of antibiotic treatment failure. Roughly 35,000 people die per year in the United States alone from bacterial infections that are unresponsive to antibiotics, stressing the need for more effective treatment methods. Specifically, I am currently investigating genetic bacterial stress mechanisms and determining how each of these stress-response genes plays a role in treatment. With this information, I am working to find better ways to potentiate bacteria towards succumbing to antibiotics faster by manipulating their genetic mechanisms and finding substances that can inhibit vital machinery they need to evade treatment.

Why did you get involved in research?

I’ve always been super passionate about my education, and I craved for more than just diagrams in a textbook! My fascination with the “molecular world” of life began from a young age and I always yearned to learn more about the mechanisms of cells through hands-on experiences. I feel that in order to make the most of my education, I needed to understand the real-life implications of what I studied in my classes. Research was the best and most motivating way to do this! I saw it as an immense opportunity to grow and narrow down what I wanted to pursue as a career. So far, it has done all of this and more for me! Continue reading →

Meet the PRAs – Jerome Jacobs

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Meet Jerome Jacobs ’23, an OUR Peer Research Ambassador (PRA) majoring in Allied Health Sciences, with a concentration in public health and health promotion, and minoring in Global Studies.

Meet the OUR Peer Research Ambassadors - Jerome Jacobs '23.What is the focus of your research?

My research is a mobile-based HIV prevention project in Malaysia. I have helped develop research-informed HIV prevention content and evaluated various features of the mobile app, which helped me realize that HIV stigma is one of the most persevering barriers to effective HIV/AIDS services in Malaysia.

Why did you get involved in research?

Interestingly, before acquiring my research assistantship, I had never done any research in m-health, stigma, or HIV and other STIs. However, since immersing myself in this position, I have grown passionate about it and am pursuing it for the UConn IDEA Grant and my Honors Thesis project. Continue reading →

Presenting Your Research at a Conference

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By Elisa Shaholli, Peer Research Ambassador

Student Research Blog - "Presenting Your Research at a Conference" by PRA Elisa.An integral part of the research process comes near the end: presenting and sharing your work with various audiences. The sharing process is the culmination of the time spent, words written and edited, and knowledge acquired throughout the duration of your research project and can be a very rewarding experience. It can also be one of the more anxiety-inducing aspects of research, especially if it may be one of the first times you are sharing your work with others. In this blog post, I’ll be sharing my experience presenting at my first conference in Ireland this summer, and tips that I found were helpful in doing so! Continue reading →

Meet the PRAs – Kira Cuneo

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Meet Kira Cuneo ’23, an OUR Peer Research Ambassador (PRA) majoring in Civil Engineering and minoring in Engineering Management.

Meet Peer Research Ambassador Kira Cuneo.What is the focus of your research?

I work in the Geo-environmental laboratory within the Civil and Environmental Engineering department on the Crumbling Foundations research project. The project focuses on exploring solutions to combat the foundation crisis that homeowners in Connecticut are experiencing due to the reaction of pyrrhotite, an iron sulfide mineral, with oxygen and water.

Why did you get involved in research?

I first started to look into research as a freshman because I wanted to find a way to further explore my major outside of the classroom and become more involved on campus. I was interested in learning more about what research was and how I could become a part of it. Continue reading →

Research: It Shouldn’t Just Be a Box to Check Off

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By Ayushi Patel, Peer Research Ambassador

Student Research Blog - Research: It Shouldn't Just Be a Box to Check Off. By PRA Ayushi.As a senior pre-medical student, I have definitely experienced feeling “behind” compared to my peers. We are put into a competitive environment, and it’s only made worse when we realize there’s extremely limited spots for what we are all trying to achieve. This certainly isn’t any better when you feel like other students are “ahead” of you—maybe that means they’re in a research lab already, maybe they have a publication in progress.

Before beginning research, it might seem like the search is overwhelming and getting into a lab is impossible, but this is a process in which you should be selective. There are plenty of steps to follow to help the process. Continue reading →

Meet the PRAs – Alyssa Daniels

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Meet Alyssa Daniels ’23, an OUR Peer Research Ambassador (PRA) majoring in Physiology & Neurobiology and minoring in Molecular & Cell Biology and Psychological Sciences.

Picture of Alyssa Daniels '23, Text: Meet the PRAs - Alyssa.What is the focus of your research?

I work in the Randall Walikonis Lab in the PNB department. Currently, we are investigating the effects of heat shock on a genetic mutation known to cause severe neurological disorders and seizures due to the overactivation of a binding protein. It is hypothesized that heat may reduce this hyper-activity in this seizure causing mutation. Additionally, I am a part of the fourth cohort of the BOLD Women’s Leadership Network. This experience has enabled me to develop my own research project and network with some amazing faculty at UConn and other universities! My research focuses on the intersection between autism, alexithymia, and eating disorders. It has been neat to participate in both molecular and psychological research!

Why did you get involved in research?

I was fascinated by the concept of research. I wanted to get involved right away after entering college. I felt as though a lot of my lab-based courses were too structured. I wanted to develop my lab skills outside of the classroom. I was interested in better understanding how genetic mutations are studied at the molecular level and the major impacts they can have on an organism. I have always been interested in neuroscience and psychology, specifically in how autism impacts development. The BOLD program allowed me to delve into these interests by allowing me to design and implement my own project. Continue reading →

Research Is Not Just for Grad School!

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By Kira Cuneo, Peer Research Ambassador

Student Research Blog Post, Research Is Not Just for Grad School! By PRA Kira.One common misconception when it comes to research is that it is only something that students who are interested in attending grad school are eligible to participate in. As someone who will not be going to grad school, I am here to tell you that that is not true.

When I started to consider research as a freshman, I could honestly not tell you what I wanted to do with my life after college. I only knew two things: I wanted to explore my major outside of the classroom and I did not want to spend another summer working as a lifeguard at the lake in my hometown. Getting involved in research the summer between my freshman and sophomore year seemed like a perfect place to start. Although this did not go exactly as planned, (I mean it was 2020… did anything go as planned?) I began working on the Crumbling Foundations project in the fall of my sophomore year and it has been such a positive experience in my undergraduate career. Continue reading →

Meet the PRAs – Ayushi Patel

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Meet Ayushi Patel ’23, an OUR Peer Research Ambassador (PRA) majoring in Molecular & Cell Biology and minoring in English.

Meet the PRAs - Ayushi Patel '23.What is the focus of your research?

My main research focus is based in genetics and science in general. Right now, I’m working with Drosophila melanogaster to understand how female meiosis and these additional B chromosomes are passed down through generations, and the implications this has, in the Hanlon Laboratory. I’ll be working on my senior honors thesis in the laboratory as well.

Previously, I worked with the Korey Stringer Institute to understand how high school heat policies affect the students within those schools, Dr. Kent Holsinger’s lab in EEB as a research assistant, and most recently at Hartford Hospital to analyze patients with overactive bladder and learn which treatments worked most effectively under Dr. Tulikangas.

Why did you get involved in research?

I initially got involved in research to check off a box for myself, and just to say that I was a part of a lab. I knew research would be interesting, but didn’t realize how much I would love it. Through the last three years, I realized there’s much more to research than meets the eye. At first, everything seemed to make no sense and I was overwhelmed. As I began to do research within my major, and tying the things I was doing every day to information I had learned in classes, the pieces came together. I learned that research is a unique way to make a connection to the things we learn in school and help broaden your understanding of complicated subjects. Now, I just can’t imagine not being involved in some type of research and trying to answer a large-picture question. Continue reading →