BSURF 2018

This summer, through BSURF, I’ve had the opportunity to hear talks from a vast array of Duke professors, allowing me to gain a better understanding of the many possible paths through academia. Dr. Chantell Evans’ talk stood out to me–not...

This summer, I’m really grateful to have had the opportunity to learn from so many amazing scientists through our faculty seminars. Our first talk was given by Dr. Steve Nowicki, and it set the tone for all the interesting talks...

The prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) has increased rapidly in recent decades. Genetic mechanisms of these disorders have been studied extensively; however, environmental factors contributing to NDD development remain less understood. Current evidence suggests that alterations in synaptogenesis and pruning...

Caenorhabditis elegans that hatch into an environment without any nutrients are arrested in the first larval stage of development, L1. Larvae can remain in L1 arrest for weeks and resume normal development once they receive food. However, many C. elegans...

I start the day by getting situated at my usual desk in Dr. Vaidyanathan’s office. In the time I have before I dive into my lab work, I like to lay out my schedule and to-dos for the day in...

Camila Rodriguez Mentors: Anya Varanko, Ashutosh Chilkoti, PhD. Department of Biomedical Engineering Elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs) are proteins based off of tropoelastin, a subcomponent of elastin, that are able to change solubility under different temperatures. By combining these proteins with the...

The activation of type I interferons has long been reported to regulate pain, but the precise mechanism has remained unclear. We tested the hypothesis that type I interferons are critical pain regulators and function via a neuronal mechanism. Sensory, motor,...

I know, I know, this is really late. I am just now getting time to ponder of the experience I had this summer, but words cannot express how thankful I am for being able to participate in BSURF this summer....

During the poster presentation Friday, someone approached me and told me that he had read many of these blogs and liked my style, applauding my writing. Before I could really grasp that he was not simply after the 30-second rundown...

My BSURF experience has been incredibly enjoyable and rewarding. Having grasped certain techniques, as well as a bigger picture understanding of how to plan out experiments, I now feel that I can independently ask and answer a pretty wide range...

I am beyond thankful to have had the opportunity to be apart of the BSURF program. I have had the opportunity to work with some amazing researchers. I got to hear talks from amazing faculty members. I have also gotten...

I came into this summer initially wanting to focus on being able to ask tough questions in order to further myself as a scientist. When I originally came up with this goal, I thought that I would be coming up...