While I have been working with Dr. Lotze for quite some time now, I got to be a part of a new project this semester. It was similar to a previous project I did in terms of the data collected, but we had a different goal and approach: can we use immune cell receptor proteins to predict clinical outcome computationally? This new question brought new challenges, specifically what is the best way to analyze the data? The basic metrics were the same, but what time point should we look at? Should we focus on longitudinal results? How should we group the data? These are all questions we had to and are still working to address. Oftentimes, we would run an analysis, and maybe we would get some interesting results but not enough to draw meaningful conclusions, instead prompting further analysis. Sometimes, an analysis would be predictive within cohorts but not across cohorts. These are common challenges that need to be address when conducting research like this, and like many aspects of life, how we respond to setbacks is important in the learning process.
That is the most important takeaway I have from this process: research is a process. In past project, we had very clear-cut data that we conducted relatively simple analysis for, so it was much easier to get results. Because of that, I expected this project to be straightforward as well. While it can be disheartening at times to spend lots of time and effort on an analysis that seems to not yield results, we can use that information to either discuss an alternative analysis. But something that I’m learning throughout this process, is that sometimes, a conclusion that the data does not support the hypothesis can also be informative.
Throughout this entire process, my biggest resources and support have been from my mentors and peers. Dr. Lotze, of course, has played a huge role in bouncing ideas off of, but also others on the project who have more experience with these more complex analyses.
Now that my CURF journey for the semester is coming to a close, my hope is to start preparing my application for the BPhil. Throughout this semester, I have been discussing ways to expand on this project in a thesis, which I will hopefully submit by the end of the month.
It was my honor to serve as a Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Fellow this semester. Thank you for following along with me on this journey.