My undergraduate research experience at UConn began in the fall of my sophomore year, when I joined Dr. Kelly Burke’s laboratory in the Institute of Material Science. After one year in her laboratory, I began an independent investigation studying the effect of silk-based hydrogel topography on morphology and wound healing of intestinal epithelial cells. This past summer, I was supported with a Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF) Award as I worked full-time on this Senior Honors Thesis/University Scholar research project and made great strides towards its completion. 

In addition to my on-campus research involvement, in Summer 2016 I participated in the Undergraduate Summer Research Internship in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences at UConn Health, through which I was placed in Dr. Syam Nukavarapu’s laboratory in the Institute for Regenerative Engineering. During this program, I conducted a release study to determine the optimal method of incorporating osteogenic and chondrogenic growth factors into a gradient scaffold-hydrogel matrix for sustained release, as well as an in vitro study with human mesenchymal stem cells to assess the capacity of the growth factor-loaded matrix for localized osteogenesis and chondrogenesis. I was able to present my findings on the growth factor release and in vitro characteristics of a gradient osteochondral matrix at the Fall 2016 and Spring 2017 Frontiers in Undergraduate Research Poster Exhibitions.

Through my undergraduate research experiences, I have not only acquired laboratory skills and expanded my scientific knowledge beyond what is taught in the classroom, but I have also gained transferable skills that I will use in my medical school education and future career endeavors.