Seven weeks of BSURF have flown by, and during each of those weeks we were introduced to a wide variety of faculty. Their talks provided insight into cool branches of biology, ongoing projects at Duke, and what paths to careers in biology research can look like!
One of my favorite talks was by Dr. Anne West from the Neurobiology department of Duke’s School of Medicine. Not only is her lab the floor below mine but back in November when I first joined the McNamara lab I got to shadow a few of her PhD students as they did RNAscopes which is a procedure that’s been at the core of my summer work! It was great to get a better insight into the questions her lab is trying to answer. Many of her projects are related to the involvement of chromatin regulation in neuroplasticity with a focus on the genes and mechanisms regulating neuron development or the pathways underlying addictive behavior. Not only does Dr. West have her lab, but she is an MD/PhD and also leads Duke’s Medical Scientist Training Program that mentors the next generation of MD/PhDs! It was so cool to hear about her career journey as she balanced her interests in medicine, research, and neurobiology!
