Hello everyone! My name is Jarvis Savage and this summer I am working in the Chilkoti lab with a focus on elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs). ELPs undergo phase separation based on the temperature, meaning that they can form droplets in a solution or remain soluble in a controlled way. In some instances, this is reversible. The work I will be doing is more on the materials side of biology as the lab is in the biomedical engineering department.
I hope that this summer experience will give me crucial insight into science research, allow me to develop lab skills, and help me identify what my post-graduation plans should be. Being in a real lab is a wonderful opportunity as an undergraduate who is interested in biology. This is especially the case given that I have not had an opportunity to participate in research within a real lab setting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While data analysis projects have given me a decent understanding of the process researchers go through and the way findings are expressed through journal articles, I have not yet had a chance to do research at a bench until now. I therefore hope to learn various skills and practice techniques I already know (such as those used in my molecular biology course). I have already started this process as I have been watching my mentor go through various steps in order to obtain and purify proteins this past week. Now that I have completed the onboarding and safety training, I am ready to begin being more hands-on.
