Felicitas Tananibe, COL ’26, Philadelphia, PA
In the United States alone, Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) affects approximately 100,000 people; more than 90% are Black or African American. Growing up in a country where this illness was much heard off, I was curious to understand the how and what sickle cell anemia was. During the spring semester of my freshman year, I had the opportunity to investigate further into this illness and how it affected the Black and Brown communities in Philadelphia. Upon my many discoveries, I came across many scientists such as Dr. Kwaku Ohene-Frempong, an expert in this field who dedicated his life to helping those with SCD. I sought to find a private investigator at CHOP, as the Children’s Hospital is known from its remarkable discoveries in SCD. There, I found Dr. Abdulmalik Osheiza, the mentee of Dr. Ohene-Frempong.
Having the opportunity to work in his laboratory this summer fulfilled the many joys I had envisioned when embarking on this journey. There I received the answers to some of my most curious thoughts. He mostly emphasized on the importance of spreading knowledge of SCD. Since this illness affects minority groups, there is zero to no research done to spread this awareness. Now, with more scientists working diligently on this, there is hope.
During my time in the lab, I got to shadow research assistants working under Dr. Abdulmalik. While working alongside some researchers, I developed an understanding of the instruments and methods used in the lab to test many drugs such as Hemoglobin-O2 Affinity (p50) and High-performance liquid chromatography ( HPLC). My experiments mostly involved creating the most efficient drug injection method for the HPLC machine. With methods created, the monitor can identify which drug was best used for further experiments. I, alongside my teammate, built injection volumes that were accurate in the testing of three different drugs such as 502, VOX, and OSI. During our many work, we were assisted by Dr. Abdulmalik, who gave us the guidance and feedback necessary to refine our techniques and ensure the accuracy of our results.
This hands-on experience in the lab, coupled with Dr. Abdulmalik’s insights solidified my passion for medical research and strengthened my resolve to contribute to the advancement of treatments for SCD.
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
