Hi, I hope everyone is doing well!

One of the most appealing aspects of the Brackenridge Fellowship is its interdisciplinary nature. It is an exciting opportunity to learn from others and about research being done in other fields. I am eager to learn more about unique research methods and what problems need solving or interests other researchers may have.

After reading my cohort members’ introductions it appears that most of us are doing research in the biological and biomedical sciences. There are a few projects that are not biology-related such as Evan’s, Maxwell’s, and David’s projects. I am looking forward to learning from their research and comparing how research is done in their fields versus my own. David’s project is so cool! My parents and grandparents played a lot of jazz music in the house when I was growing up, so I am thrilled to hear his album and learn more about the Hill District. Cecelia’s project is similar to mine because we both study protein misfolding diseases. Her mentor, Dr. Brodsky, is my research for credit co-sponsor and a colleague of my mentor, Dr. Eisele. I am looking forward to learning more about her project and how our approaches to studying protein misfolding are similar and different.

Working with people across disciplines is beneficial because it forces us to communicate our research in a way that is accessible to people outside of our fields. This is a great skill for any type of research because we need to be able to emphasize the significance of our research and share the most important takeaways. A challenge I am anticipating is cutting out jargon and coherently explaining processes. A lot of our projects were originally lab-based, but it is encouraging seeing how others have adapted their projects too. I think a lot of us were anticipating sharing our own data, but now we have to reorient ourselves and present the most current research about our topics.

I decided to feature a picture of my little research buddy because she turns 1 tomorrow! 🙂