Joshua Pascale, COL ’26, Secaucus, NJ
This summer, I had the wonderful opportunity of working on Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging research at the Division of Nuclear Imaging and Therapy at Penn Medicine. Throughout this 8-week journey, I not only learned a bunch, but I discovered passions that I did not know I had. In this research position, I was able to learn about some basic coding, the biology behind opioid addiction and how PET imaging studies are applied, how to use computer software to analyze PET images, and what radiologists do on a day-to-day basis. I could not be more grateful for this amazing experience!
At the beginning of this research position, I felt a bit lost and out of place because everyone seemed to be a lot more knowledgeable than I was on all the information discussed in the lab. However, my mentors made me feel right at home, and I was able to eventually understand how all things operated within the lab. The project I worked on involved using PET to analyze how naloxone (aka Narcan) displaced carfentanil (an extremely potent opioid) from opioid receptors. PET imaging utilizes a radioactive tracer to create 3D images that are later analyzed. In the study, volunteers underwent two tests, one with naloxone present and the other without any naloxone (a micro dose of carfentanil was given to volunteers in both tests). My job consisted of using computer software to complete a series of steps to eventually generate kinetic models of all the PET images. In short, these kinetic models help us determine how well carfentanil remained bound to the opioid receptors in the brain.
At the time of writing this, the project I am working on is not completed yet, but I plan on continuing to work at this lab as I have gained a true passion for this kind of research. I believe the opioid epidemic is one of the major issues that the United States currently faces, and it is especially prevalent in Philadelphia. Therefore, knowing how beneficial the research I am doing at this lab fuels me to continue to work on these PET studies.
Aside from the main project I worked on over the summer, I was also tasked with creating a 20-minute presentation on a relevant research paper in the field of PET imaging. This presentation was challenging, yet very insightful as it taught me a lot about the field of PET and how it is applied to real-world issues. Additionally, I had the opportunity of shadowing a radiologist at his clinic. This experience was very fascinating as it taught me a lot about the day-to-day life of a radiologist. Before this summer, I never considered radiology as a potential career, but I have gained an interest after this experience. All in all, I am forever grateful for having the opportunity to work in the Division of Nuclear Imaging and Therapy at Penn Medicine, and I hope to continue working down the line.
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
