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July 12, 2019, Filed Under: 2019, cancer, learning, research

Deliberate Practice

Mastering any skill takes practice.  As I continue to learn new things this summer, I have been thinking about how practice actually affects the inner workings of our brain and behavior.

In our latest seminar class, we were introduced to the book Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool where the authors discuss how there is power in purposeful practice.  Repetition and effort are definitely key ingredients as we strive to improve our research skills, but pairing those along with deliberate practice can help us progress even more.

Two of the points from the book that resonated with me are that deliberate practice requires full attention, and it requires feedback.

We have to be engaged with our work. 

If a basketball player practices shooting hoops for hours but doesn’t think about his shooting form, it will be very difficult for him to improve. The same concept can be applied to our work in the labs.  On the surface level, lab protocols may appear to be repetitive because there are many fundamental parts to it–passaging cells, counting cells, preparing well plates, etc. However, that is far from reality as the environment is filled with exciting scientific puzzles waiting for us to research and solve. I have an opportunity to work in lab each day and observe patterns, record results, and think about new methods to improve the experiment. The second point mentions how the best improvements are made when feedback is involved. This is highly applicable to my research experience here this summer. I am very grateful for my mentor, Susy, as she has taught me numerous aspects about researching and working with cells, guiding me throughout this entire learning process.

supplies needed for cell culture inside fume hood
Pictured above are some of the supplies needed to passage cells inside the fume hood.

Practicing with a purposeful mentality will lead us toward improvement over time. We don’t have to come into research with a considerable amount of subject expertise, but with an optimistic mindset and working smart to achieve a high standard, we can further enhance our research experiences. As we enter into our seventh week of research, my friends and I are nearing the final stretch, and I know we will make the most of it!

The cancer research field is so complex, but with deliberate practice, I believe that we can continue learning more about the disease and potential methods to prevent and treat it in the future.

-Jaime Chen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

July 9, 2019, Filed Under: 2019, cancer, learning, research

Lectures at Dell Medical School LIVESTRONG Cancer Institute

During one of our first meetings of the summer, we were asked by our program supervisor to explain the differences between school and work, and to decide which of the two this REU fell under. We get paid, which feels like work, but we are also here to learn, which almost makes it seem as if we never left college for summer vacation. This program cannot be constrained to either school or work entirely, and I don’t believe that any of our future careers will be so easily classified either.

As researchers, it is in our job description to learn, and that is what this summer is about.

lecture at dell med school
A lecture on Cancer Imaging at the Health Discovery Building Auditorium at the Dell Medical School

UT Austin is home to many summer research opportunities, one of which is the LIVESTRONG Cancer Institute Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) in the Dell Medical School, and runs nearly the same timeline as our own program. Over the past week and a half, we have attended three of their cancer lectures, where we have learned about experimental models, clinical trials, and cancer imaging. Each lecture, though early in the morning, was entertaining, interactive, and taught us something new about a different aspect of cancer. It is refreshing to see how these lecturers, all adults and well established in their field, are constantly trying to learn new things and see the world from different perspectives. Though the content itself is complex, each lecturer is able to explain their research in a professional, yet understandable fashion. Similarly, as each of us become more comfortable in our own lab, we are better able to explain our work to each other.

Science is most useful when it can be shared, and I am hopeful that the communication skills we learn here, both by presenting to each other and listening to lectures, will enable us to make sure science is more readily accessible to all.

-Maggie Cook, Arizona State University

June 24, 2019, Filed Under: 2019, cancer, reflections, research

Research Ethics Reflection

As we enter the fourth week of our summer program, many of us are starting to venture into our research projects in a markedly more independent manner than before. The training wheels are finally starting to come off! This transition marks an important point in our journey as budding cancer researchers, as it comes not only with the excitement of greater freedom, but the critical responsibility of upholding scientific integrity.

image of small spheres used in science to study tumor microenvironments
This is a picture of three tumor spheroids under the microscope, composed of cells from the 4T1 breast cancer line, that I took last week. These spheroids are used to model the tumor microenvironment in-vivo.

During the past week’s seminar, we as a group discussed different types of ethical violations in science. We also went over case studies that stood out for their blatant disregard of proper scientific conduct. The worst part was that the papers associated with these fraudulent studies were cited by thousands upon thousands of other researchers around the world. The resulting networks of knowledge all inevitably came crashing down when their feeble foundation was exposed, effectively resulting in the waste of all the time, effort, and money that went into their construction.

Scientific progress is achieved through purposeful research, and research only has purpose if it is conducted ethically.

This is what we have been taught so far in our time at UT Austin, and it is what we must remember as we continue to work on our projects. Cancer is a deadly disease that can only be overcome through the proper and consistent effort of researchers in the lab. To this end, we can best contribute to the fight by creating our models, collecting our data, and presenting our results with the utmost integrity.

My friends and I at the BME CUReS Cancer REU have the next 7 weeks to make as much progress towards winning the War on Cancer as possible. By prioritizing ethical conduct, making it the hallmark of our work, I know that we will do great things!

– Reetwan Bandyopadhyay, University of Pittsburgh

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