It’s been about a month since I got back from England and started my internship at the National Institutes of Health this summer, and upon reflecting on all my wonderful memories from my Maymester abroad, it’s quite easy to see how my global experience connects with my intended career path and consider the ways it might integrate into my next steps.
In biomedical research, precision health and genomics are of utmost importance. Within several of the labs I’ve worked in, there is a heavy focus on new genetic and genomic sequencing techniques, including spatial transcriptomics and single-cell RNA sequencing, which can allow researchers to analyze their data in new, revolutionary ways. For example, you can now measure gene expression in individual cells, or map molecular interactions between neighboring cells. Twenty years ago, none of this would have been possible, and it was exciting to learn about how some of these advances in genetic and genomic sequencing have benefitted public health and healthcare, outside of the lab space.
In several guest lectures from professors at Northeastern University and nurses at England’s National Health Service, we learned how pharmacagenomics (the influence of genetics on people’s responses to medications) can be considered in sequencing the genomes of patients. I learned that four individuals could receive the exact same dose of the exact same drug, but have vastly different responses. This wasn’t necessarily a complete surprise, but it was certainly interesting to consider how having genetic information could inform or help predict how someone might respond to a given medication.
As someone who’s interested in investigating viruses and host-pathogen interactions, these new technologies can uncover a vast amount of new information as it relates to cellular responses to infection. This study abroad program also allowed me to interact with public health students and learn more about the clinical side of science, which has deepened my interest in public health epidemiology and equity as it relates to virology. I also thought it was really cool to learn from healthcare practitioners connected directly to England’s national health infrastructure as I’m starting to conduct research in the United States’ national health infrastructure, and it’s been quite interesting to compare and contrast our systems.
During my time in England, many people supported my journey, from all the great Pitt students that travelled abroad with me to our wonderful team of professors, including Dr. Susan Wesmiller and Dr. Yvette Conley in Pitt’s School of Nursing. Having such a small, tight knit group really gave us the opportunity to foster a sense of close community, especially on our weekend excursions where we’d often spend from sunrise to sundown with each other, taking trains up to Edinburgh or London for the day and getting to know each other better while we navigated new cities in the U.K.
Next semester, I am taking genomics, and having exposure to all these topics in genetics and genomics through this program will certainly provide me with a stronger foundational basis to build on when I formally take it through the Department of Biological Sciences.
My advice for future FHC students considering studying abroad would be to approach your experience with an open mind, and really be open to spending time with your group and engaging in some new activities with them, even if it’s things you might not have expected. At the same time though, it’s important to take little bits of time to yourself to process and rest, especially when you’re in a new setting with lots of different potential stressors, so it’s totally okay to have a more casual night after several days of exploring.
And definitely take the time to plan out some of your excursions and seek out the advice of locals for suggestions of fun things to do! At the Harlaxton Manor, we had asked one of the staff members for their recommendations, and they told us about Nottingham, a really cute town that was close to where we were staying, and they had some wonderful cafes and thrift shops available. In fact, we found a University of Pittsburgh scarf in one of the thrift stores we visited, which was a really funny thing to find in a random thrift store all the way in England. My takeaway from that is that you never know what you’ll find until you go look for it! And you may be a lot closer and more similar than you’d expect to the foreigners you encounter.
Before leaving, I wish I had known that it was going to still be quite cold in May! I brought a couple of sweaters, but in the rush of packing, I neglected to pack a substantial winter coat. So definitely don’t forget a coat and a couple of nice, heavy sweaters, no matter what time of the year you visit!
One of my favorite shopping adventures was visiting the Camden Market in London, with an aesthetic display of floating umbrellas that instantly caught our attention. They had some wonderful jewelry, teapot sets, and thrift stores to venture into, and I loved interacting with all of the local shopkeepers. One of the best parts of the experience was getting to meet so many locals, whether it be nurses at the NHS, staff at the Harlaxton Manor, or the local shopkeepers, and I’ll definitely cherish many of these interactions as I reflect fondly on my trip.
But, like all good things, our trip unfortunately came to a close. So for now, so long, London. Trust me, I’ll be back.