June 24, 2016, Filed Under: 2016, graduate school, reflections, researchConsidering Research as a Career Photo by Hannah Horng at the pedestrian footbridge across Lady Bird Lake I’ve never been one to think particularly far ahead into the future—the idea that I don’t know who or where I am going to be in a couple years terrifies me. That’s why I’ve often avoided thinking too much about the details of graduate school, namely where I want to go or what I want to study. I’ve focused more on what I do know for sure—that I want my future career to be centered around biological research, and to do research at a higher level I need to go to graduate school. To that end I’ve tried to center my college experience around widening my horizons and learning about all the possibilities and applications that the world of bioengineering has to offer in hopes of finally finding a subject that I’m passionate about. This REU has challenged me to work in optics, a field that I know next to nothing about. I’ve never taken a microscopy class and I’ve never operated anything more complicated than your average fluorescence microscope. The past three weeks have been a crash course of protocols and concepts that I’ve never seen before, and in the process I’ve learned valuable lessons about research as a career path. The primary lesson is that there are a multitude of different ways to approach a problem, and hence many ways to research it. Finding a field that I’m passionate about is not as easy as interning in one lab and letting that determine my entire problem solving approach. Over the course of the summer I’ve opened my eyes to a new method of diagnosing cancer and assessing the mechanisms of cancer treatments (through single particle trajectories). Cancer is the common enemy, and there’s more than one way to wage war on it. Coming to Austin has shown me that there’s a wider world out there, in both the research sense and the literal sense. We’re still rising sophomores, so we still have time left to explore more opportunities before we apply to graduate school programs. Here’s to hoping that we find our callings in the next couple years, and complete part of that journey this summer. -Hannah Horng, Univ of Maryland, College Park
June 22, 2016, Filed Under: 2016, cancer, reflections, research, texas4000Cancer Research Dedications Every week at our group meeting, we go around and volunteer “dedications” stating who we are dedicating this week of work to and offering a thank you to the people that made it possible. These dedications range from deeply emotional to practical to lighthearted, but their tone does not diminish their truthfulness. At least personally, a dedication to my coffee maker is as legitimate as one to my high school teachers as both are responsible for my ability to get up every morning and perform research. Dedications to grants and funding are popular as well, a pragmatic necessity to make any kind of scientific research comes to fruition in this day and age. These dedications could happen at any workplace – I’m sure dedications to coffeemakers happen worldwide – but ours are special. Same fight, different fronts. (Photo credit, top: Sydney Hutton; bottom: texas4000.org) Everyone who sits in that room, undergraduates, graduates and investigators alike, is dedicated to a common goal, curing cancer. Cancer is such a highly personal disease that I doubt that one person in that room does not think of a particular person in their life when they walk into lab. Maybe it was a relative who struggled with cancer, a beloved teacher or friend. And even if he or she has not had a felt the influence of cancer strongly, human compassion links everyone emotionally in the fight for a cure. No one feels the weight of these dedications more than the Texas 4000 riders who have recently embarked on grueling physical journey to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. Their persistence and ability to push themselves mentally and physically to complete a ride to Alaska is awe-inspiring. Every steep uphill or cramped muscle is weathered by personal endurance, willpower and a supportive community joined in the fight. And this week I offer my appreciation and thanks to the whole-hearted dedication of the Texas 4000 riders who spend their summer biking as a physical manifestation of thousands of years of suffering by cancer victims and hundreds of years of research by doctors and scientists to find treatments. This week as I enter the lab I am going to attempt to embody their determination and perseverance as I learn from my mentors and perform my own research. I hope that through very different yet parallel journeys this summer, we can spark awareness, compassion, unity and innovation. Sydney Hutton, Stanford University
June 21, 2016, Filed Under: 2016, cancer, research, texas4000Letter to Texas 4000 Rider: Jacob Lozano Dear Jacob, Hello, my name is Daniel Chavarria. I am a current student at the University of Texas at El Paso but I’m spending my summer at UT Austin as part of the BME CUReS Cancer REU. Coming into the program I thought I had an idea of what cancer was. I know the biological factors and aspects of cancer, the limitations of its treatments, the side effects of the chemotherapies and how each day we are making more and more progress in the fight against cancer. But I had completely neglected one aspect of cancer, the people it affects. Daniel Chavarria in front of Littlefield fountain at UT Hearing about your story and how it has affected not only your family but the family of your close friend has really put things into perspective. I have been blessed that no one close to me has been diagnosed with cancer, I consider myself lucky. You have demonstrated a great deal of courage and determination. I know it’s extremely hard losing a loved one at such a young age. Just like you, my grandmother passed away from idiopathic cardiomegaly when I was eight years old. Things are never the same when you lose a loved one. That is why I admire your drive and boldness as you take on your ride. As you set forth in your route I too will be making a journey of my own, immersing myself in a research intensive summer program that hopes to contribute to the fight against cancer from a biomedical engineering standpoint. Although I may work many hours and may never see results of my work here at UT Austin I am sure of one thing. Thanks to you I have found one more reason as to why I want to pursue a career in research. Sincerely, Daniel Chavarria, UTEP Jacob Lozano is a UT Austin Senior in Biology and currently riding to Alaska on the Rockies team.
