Elizabeth Ni, COL ’26, New Jersey
This summer, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to continue living in Philly and continue with the neuroscience lab I started researching with the beginning of my sophomore year! I feel fortunate to have been able to fully immerse myself in my lab work for the first time,whereas before my focus was on my schoolwork and lab work. I especially enjoyed working in such an intellectually stimulating environment that significantly enriched my academic and professional growth. The opportunity to work alongside esteemed faculty members of Penn Medicine’s research teams and fellow students provided me with invaluable working and research experience. The research, which not only deepened my understanding of neuroscience and the mouse brain as a model organism for stroke outcomes in humans. This summer, I sought to better understand sex-differences in stroke outcomes, ultimately in the hopes of contributing to the literature on the effects of the sex chromosomes and related epigenetic mechanisms on strokes and stroke recovery.
I am particularly grateful and enriched by the close mentorship I received from the full time staff at the lab, who I were able to learn closely from. Their feedback and encouragement were pivotal in overcoming challenges and refining our hypotheses, making the research experience both challenging and rewarding. I also appreciated the opportunity to present our findings to a broader audience, which enhanced my communication skills and allowed me to receive constructive criticism from experts in the field.
Reflecting on this summer research experience, I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to necessary pre-clinical research on strokes and their outcomes. The skills and knowledge gained during this period will undoubtedly influence my future academic and career pursuits and translate to my future career prospects and hopeful career as a physician. Overall, this experience has been a significant milestone in my academic journey, reinforcing my commitment to clinical research and working towards a better future for patients experiencing stroke outcomes.
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
