Author Archives: Tochi Onuegbu

In retrospect, this summer research experience has been extremely fulfilling. Before I began working in the lab, I set a goal for myself: I wanted to become more confident in my research abilities. This “confidence” does not only include my confidence when conducting experiments but also confidence when sharing my research with others. Through the chalk talks, conversations with peers and family, and the poster symposium, I can feel that I have accomplished this goal; I have become a better speaker in communicating my science. It is truly gratifying to know that I have grown so much in just two months. Additionally, this summer’s research helped me recognize and refine my strengths. I also evolved by acquiring knowledge in a field I once knew nothing about.

Not only did I transform this summer, but my definition of research has also evolved. Prior to this experience, I knew research involves working in the lab and conducting experiments. But after this experience, I can confidently say that research is much more than that. Research involves creativity, insights from others, collaboration with coworkers, and innovative ideas. My colleagues in the lab and the faculty have all given me words of wisdom that I will apply in my life. I truly enjoyed my experience in the lab, and even though this B-SURF experience has ended, I know that this experience has launched the beginning of my career in science.

In the past few weeks, I’ve heard from distinguished faculty, ranging from those specializing in microbiome research to those studying evolutionary genetics. While their research may be drastically different, I observed that each seminar had a common theme: the idea that science starts with observation. More particularly, I was fascinated by Dr. Lefkowitz’s talk, specifically how his observations led to his discovery of g-protein-coupled receptors. Even though he is now a Nobel-prize winner, it was interesting learning that he was never interested in research during his undergrad years. It wasn’t until his exposure to research through the NIH that he discovered his love of the lab.

While his research is fascinating, I was intrigued by his mellow demeanor. He has lived a fascinating life, and I enjoyed hearing his stories and wisdom. In his words, one of the keys to success is learning to tell a good story. This advice emphasized a soft skill necessary in science, specifically the ability to be creative. After undergoing an experiment and collecting data, the results alone do not tell a story. It is the researcher, who simultaneously is also the author, that imposes a story on the data. Another key to success that was profound to me was the idea that humor is creativity, and creativity is the basis of science. I enjoyed how Dr. Lefkowitz explained that the process of understanding the punchline of a joke is the equivalent of making a discovery–which is a crucial part of science.

His seminar can be summed up in the following statement: be ambitious, stay focused, and eat lots of dark chocolate.

Mentors: Evangeline Bao, Soman Abraham, Ph.D., Department of Pathology

The burden of disease for urinary tract infections (UTI) has continuously increased over the past three decades, impacting the quality of life for many patients. A UTI occurs when bacteria, such as Uropathogenic E. coli (UPEC), climb up the urethra, multiply in the urine, and cause an infection. UTIs are prone to be recurrent since UPEC invades the bladder wall and habitually reinfects the bladder. Therefore, understanding the body’s response and regulation of UPEC is essential in developing effective treatments. It has always been known that innate immune cells sense antigens with the help of pattern recognition receptors (PRR). Recent studies have shown that nociceptors also express PRR, suggesting that they may also play a role in pathogen detection. This study examines the optimal time window for assaying activated nociceptors in the bladder wall. Phosphorylated-ERK was used as a marker for activated nociceptors. Our findings suggest that nociceptors activation in the bladder is present after exposure to capsaicin for up to thirty minutes. The phosphorylated-ERK signal appears to reach its peak after five minutes of capsaicin treatment. Future investigations will include infecting female mice with UPEC to determine if nociceptors are activated upon bacterial exposure.

Listening to Morayo’s chalk talk about her project gave me a new perspective on how one’s social environment affects one. More specifically, her project focuses on Drosophila, or the common fruit fly, and she is looking to see how changes in the social environment impact their courtship behavior. Previous studies have shown the effects of social isolation on fruit flies—essentially, flies housed alone have different eating and courting behavior than group-housed flies. This suggests that the social environment has significant control over behavior. I will love to learn more about why this phenomenon occurs and if the changes are reversible or permanent.

The methods of Morayo’s experiment are appropriate for her research question. She will be using different indexes (copulation index and courtship index) to get data, and she makes sure to include time as a factor that influences the courting behavior of Drosophila to figure out the optimal time to record the flies’ behavior.

I appreciated how she also made an effort to mention her future directions by talking about how she hopes to investigate why these behavioral differences between single-housed and group-housed flies are present.

The Edwin Jones Building, the location of the Abraham Lab, is sandwiched between two other buildings that tower over it. To any passerby, it may be hard to miss the building. But I have memorized each twist and turn, making the morning journey to my lab effortless. Upon reaching the building, I go through the double doors and navigate rows of hallways to get to the lab.

I enter my workspace, and with a quick “Good morning!” I greet Abhay, a post-doc researcher who works across from me. Then, I would open up my digital lab notebook, read through my entry from the previous day, and make a new entry for the new day. Then I get to work.

My mentor usually pops in to guide me through the tasks I would be working on for that day. That usually consists of using the lab’s cryostat to section processed tissue, preparing reagents, or preparing antibodies for immunofluorescence staining. The microscope the lab uses for microscopy is located in GSRB II, the building across from Edwin Jones. When it is time to perform microscopy, I would take a little field trip down to GSRB II to take micrographs of the tissue and analyze them using a software program.

Each day, I look forward to conversing with other lab members during incubation periods. It’s so intriguing seeing how their experiments differ from mine and learning about their projects. Even when I am not reading scientific articles or performing an experiment, I can still learn about science–and that has been thrilling. I am also fascinated by the collaboration between other lab members. Occasionally, someone’s experiment does not go as planned, and they are quick to discuss what went wrong with other researchers. They always ask questions such as, “What about doing it this way?”, “Should we try this method” and “What if we change this step to this?” Seeing them think through ways to improve inspires me to continually apply my knowledge to solve problems.

It is not every day you get to meet someone who lived through an important war in Nigerian history. Nevertheless, there I was, in the presence of my principal investigator, Dr. Soman Abraham. Born in Ethiopia but growing up in the eastern parts of Nigeria, Dr. Abraham lived through the Biafran war, also known as the Nigerian Civil War. He did his undergraduate and master’s program in Nigeria and his Ph.D. program in England. During his Ph.D. program, he became even more interested in research and decided to pursue a career in academia. Dr. Abraham speaks fondly of his mentor in England, who took it upon himself to write a letter to various individuals in the United States and requested a job for Dr. Abraham. Through that letter, he was able to come to the United States. He worked at Washington University in St. Louis as an assistant professor and took an interest in the immune system. During his research, he discovered the importance of mast cells in fighting bacteria.

As someone who has been to various corners of the world and met people in different cultures and communities, Dr. Abraham has a unique perspective on life. With a smile, he says, “People are all the same. They may be culturally different, but there are decent, good people everywhere.” Having the opportunity to work with people from around the world is one of the many reasons why he loves his profession. Being in academia grants him the opportunity to research abroad. He also admires that his career allows him to interact with students who stimulate his thinking and makes him reassess things. His students have diverse ideas that challenge him, and he finds joy in the constant renewal of his mind. 

He considers his trainees to be his most valuable career accomplishment, for they are now performing very well in various academic institutions, pharmaceuticals, federal agencies, and other industries. He finds deep satisfaction in touching the souls of those he trains. In retrospect, he suggests that without the letter written by his mentor in England, he probably wouldn’t be where he is today—when finishing up his Ph.D. program, he never planned to work in the United States or pursue a career in academia! As a result of the pathway that his mentor caved for him, he is continuing that legacy of serving his students without expecting a thank you in return.

To borrow an analogy from my PI, Dr. Soman Abraham, imagine you are at your home relaxing. You had a long day at work so you sit back on your La-Z-Boy reclining sofa and sip a cool glass of water. Little unbeknownst to you, there is a hive of bees swarming in the vents of your sweet home forming an army that is preparing to attack you. Eventually, you notice a strange buzzing sound coming from your kitchen walls and call a bee exterminator to come to look at the situation. The exterminator finds the bees–but he unknowingly does not get rid of all the bees! The few bees that remain inside your house walls linger and repopulate in preparation to launch another attack.

That, my friends, is how urinary tract infections (UTI) reoccur. 

The prevalence and recurrence of UTIs are much higher for women than men due to the rising numbers of the immuno-compromised and elderly. Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), the pathogen that causes many UTIs, originates from our guts. The urinary tract has innate immune responses to expunge bacteria from the body. Epithelial cells that line the bladder wall are the primary defense against the pathogen. Not only are they responsible for protecting the underlying tissue from toxins in urine, but they also inhibit the growth of bacteria through the secretion of antibacterial agents. Other innate immune cells that have a key role in regulating UPEC include neutrophils, macrophages, and mast cells. Despite these mechanisms that are put in place, UPEC still finds a way to invade the bladder epithelial cells. Once they become intracellular, they become increasingly more difficult for the urinary immune cells to find and expunge them. Occasionally, some bacteria leave the haven that is the bladder epithelial cells and goes out into the bladder lumen. Once that happens, they repopulate to cause another infection. But even when the urinary immune cells get rid of them, the other bacteria that are hiding in the bladder wall unknown to the immune cells would occasionally leave the bladder wall to cause yet another infection, hence stimulating the recurrence of UTIs. 

It has been believed that mast cells are responsible for sensing bacterial pathogens and then relaying that information to other cells, but micrographs of our bladder wall show that sensory neurons, which are responsible for “sensing things,” are situated right next to mast cells. This has researchers asking whether it is actually sensory neurons that are detecting the pathogen and then sending that signal to mast cells. This summer, I will be investigating whether sensory neurons in the bladder are activated upon bacterial challenge. To do this, I will process the bladder tissue of infected mice, section the tissue using a cryostat, and perform immunofluorescent staining on the tissue. The antibody β-Tubulin 3 will stain for all neurons, while p-ERK will stain for all activated neurons. 

So far the work I’ve been doing in the lab is thrilling and I feel honored to be working on a project that will allow researchers to understand the way in which our bladder immune system reacts to pathogens in hopes of forming preventive methods to lessen the burden of recurring UTIs.

I still remember the first day I began my research in the Abraham lab, not knowing what to expect. The trek to the lab building was considerably long, and my shoulders sagged from the weight of my backpack. Amid the journey, I filled my mind with wild anticipations of what lay ahead. The fictional and cinematic depictions of research in a lab influenced the way I pictured scientists: they were covered head-to-toe in personal protective equipment as they worked in a fast-paced environment to devise a breakthrough in science that would impact lives for the better.

Entering the lab, I was pleasantly surprised by how the lab’s environment presented a sharp contrast to the image in my head. However, one thing that seemed to agree with my imagination was that all the researchers were passionate about improving the lives of individuals by understanding the mechanisms of pathogens. Right there, I realized that this summer research would be an opportunity for me to gain a lot of knowledge and grow confidence in my abilities as a scientist.

Coming into the lab without any prior experience makes my summer research even more thrilling because I can begin the journey of learning about what it means to be a scientist in a welcoming and passionate environment. I had little knowledge of how to use the instruments provided to perform tissue processing and immunofluorescence staining. Despite that, I knew I would be working with mice bladder tissue to investigate whether our sensory neurons activate upon bacterial challenge. While I have engaged in the labs in the chemistry courses and high school science courses, I knew that those would be wildly different from what I am used to. I hope that at the end of the summer, I can confidently describe how to use a cryostat to section frozen tissue and explain the difference between the liquid agents PBS and OCT. 

While I expect to gain confidence in lab techniques, I also expect to grow in my ability to communicate my research project to others. The first step of achieving this goal starts by having a desire to fully understand my project, which I have already begun cultivating. At the end of the summer, I hope that I would have transformed into a much more confident researcher.