The highlight of my experience at Fred Hutch was watching the Summer High school interns present their findings. The soon to be seniors presented in pairs what they were found after eight weeks of research in a mentor’s lab. It was inspiring to see people only one year older than me present complex findings in very real applications.
One group was researching the differences acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients and AML patients who also had Down’s syndrome. The data had to be broken down for the audience, so these high school seniors were explaining how they chose this very specific graph to show the differences in gene expressions between the two sets of patients. Some genes were under expressed in AML patients with Down syndrome compared to patients with just Down’s syndrome. Some were overexpressed. They chose two genes, one under expressed and one over expressed, and went into further study. Sadly, they did not have enough time to figure the function of the two genes chosen, and they had a small sample size, only five AML patients and five AML+ Down’s syndrome patients. The interns closed their presentation by saying that the lab they worked in will take their data and run further research with their findings, using a bigger sample size as well.
One intern was alone and did data analysis. He analyzed the difference in data between two programs for entering points.He wrote code that highlights the difference and found that values vary widely. The two programs use different languages. The difference in values can cause issues in replication because one lab will use one program and another will stick to another. If another lab wants to replicate the other’s data. they would have to use the other program, which they are not proficient in. This can cause issues in replication.
Throughout their presentations, I noted the variety in personalities up on the stage. Some presentations were serious and concise. Others had jokes sprinkled about in every slide. I fully expected the interns to be a stock nerdy type who wears wire frame glasses. A bit outdated stereotype, I know. Seeing people who had such dynamic personalities and had amazing speaking skills was eye-opening. It was a reminder that not all science is hunched over a computer or a lab bench, but it can be social. Grant funders are not specialized scientists, they need data to be broken down and the relevancy explained. Persuasion is needed. Also, a scientist could be a specialized neurosurgeon, but not know a thing about fungi. So, a scientist will have to explain their research without all of the jargon or fancy words, but in layman’s terms.
The most inspiring point would be when accomplished scientists in the crowd would ask the interns questions, and the interns could hold their ground and answer, showing their depth of knowledge. Before the presentations, I had lunch with one of the interns, Ana (pictured below). We clicked immediately. She was sweet and smart. It was comforting on how relatable she was in terms of goals and aspirations. It’s always hard at a place like the Fred Hutch to feel like I belong, because it is buzzing with bright scientists on the cutting edge of research, but these interns found a place among their labs. It made me wonder if I could ever work at a place like this, and if they could, why couldn’t I?
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