Sophia Liu, COL ’26, Cincinnati, OH
By delving into the intricacies of neurodevelopmental disorders, I have chosen a unique way to confront my fear of insects. My current research involves the modeling of de novo spliceosome mutations in Drosophila, which means I spend the majority of my day tending to vials and vials of flies.
All jokes aside, I am grateful to have had the privilege of researching in the Song Lab, led by Dr. Yuanquan Song. One of the lab’s main goals lies in the modeling of human neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), and in my case, disorders caused by spliceosomal mutations. NDDs are a group of neurological disorders that manifest in early childhood and have the primary symptom of developmental delay. But even with the extensive research that has been done, most cases of NDDs still remain unexplained. By modeling patient variants in flies and studying for pathogenicity, we are able to better understand the disorder and eventually develop treatments for patients with NDD.
My project revolves around patients with mutations on genes that code for portions of the spliceosome complex (spliceosomes are ribonucleoprotein complexes that function primarily in mRNA processing), the plan being to trace the pathogenicity of these variants through behavioral assays and imaging. Though daunting at first, I’ve grown to love the independence that working on my own project has given me. I’m able to experience first hand what being a researcher is like–thinking about and planning my experiments weeks in advance and troubleshooting if necessary. In addition, all throughout this summer, I’ve presented in lab meetings and led journal clubs; all things that were completely foreign to me three months prior.
Of course, none of this would have been possible without the Career Services Summer Funding Grant. With the grant, I was able to devote myself wholeheartedly to research, and never had to worry financially about my circumstances. I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to experience the summer I have, and this experience has truly shaped my future career path.
This is part of a series of posts by recipients of the 2024 Career Services Summer Funding Grant. We’ve asked funding recipients to reflect on their summer experiences and talk about the industries in which they spent their summer. You can read the entire series here
