ISSUE 2
WELCOME BACK TO
NEUROTRANSMITTER Hello everyone! My name is Mayuri, and along with Nick and Sahi, as well as the rest of our team, we are very excited to welcome you to the Spring 2022 issue of Rice Neuro Transmitter! If you are not yet aware, Rice Neuro Transmitter is Rice’s official undergraduate neuroscience journal aimed at sharing unique insights and opportunities pertaining to neuroscience within our local community. In this issue, we took a more unique, personalized take. The writers went out of their way to interview our local neurosurgeons, neurologists, cancer researchers, and to offer their own unique insights about navigating opportunities in Rice and in Houston. Our editors and designers did an absolutely fantastic job working on the quality and presentation of the articles! In addition to our articles, you can find information on Rice’s neuroscience summer classes, events, and recommended books if you wish to learn more about neuroscience! We sincerely hope you enjoy reading our journal; if so, then please share it with your friends! With Love, Mayuri Vaish President
STAFF President Mayuri Vaish Vice-President Nick Gonzalez Sahi Puuvala Design Head Celeste Wang
Designers Bryant Polanco Ariel Ma Editors Nikhil Mummaneni Sai Govindu Ryan Wang Stephen Peng Kirim Kim
Writers Anuska Santra Autumn Hildebrand Dheerj Jasuja Makayla Brown Hayley Jue
TABLE OF CONTENTS 3-4
Summer ‘22 Neuroscience Classes See the different neuroscience courses offered here at Rice over the summer!
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What We Are Reading! Look at this broad selection of neuroscience-related books to read on your free time!
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From Rice to Medicine: Dr. Reeta Akari On Her Medical Journey & Experiences Rice alumna Dr. Reeta Achari speaks in an interview regarding her medical journey and experiences.
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A Brief History of the Battle Against Gliobastomas at MD Anderson As the fight against brain cancer persists, the MD Anderson Cancer Center has shed significant light on the ailment and its treatments. Find out what we now know and how it can help us defeat glioblastomas.
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Starting Paid Research As An Amateur: My Dive Into Neurogenetics Research Writer Makayla Brown retells her personal experience and provides advice with research at Rice.
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An Exploration of Neurotrauma with Dr. Ryan Kitagawa Understanding neurotrauma through conversation with neurosurgeon, Dr. Ryan Kitagawa, for Brain Injury Awareness Month.
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Acknowledgments
SUMMER ‘22 CLASSES CORE CLASSES NEUR 380: Fundamental Systems | CRN: 25219 This course will provide a broad overview of the brain’s neural systems that subserve perception, learning, and behavior. The course will be highly integrative with thematic content including functional organization of the nervous system, neural encoding and decoding, sensory systems, motor systems, and high-level concept processing.
PSYC 203: Intro to Cognitive Psychology | CRN: 30951 An introduction to topics in cognitive psychology, including perception, attention, language, memory, and decision making
OTHER CLASSES BIOS 449: Advanced Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience | CRN: 30948 This course will be an overview of advanced principles and techniques in cell and molecular neuroscience; subjects will include bio-electricity, cellular signaling, and the molecular mechanics of neuronal plasticity. The class will primarily be lecture driven. However, there will be seminar component – students will review primary scientific literature, discuss it in small groups, and present their findings
OTHER CLASSES PSYC 308: Memory | CRN: 25299 Critical review of traditional and contemporary approaches to the study of remembering and forgetting
RESEARCH ORIENTED NEUR 310: Independent Research for Neuroscience | CRN: 21642 Information on how to find a lab, apply to the course and what to expect can be found at www.neur310.rice.edu. This course gives credit for independent research in Rice Neuroscience faculty laboratories (or other Texas Medical Center laboratories.) Students spend at least 3 hours per week in the laboratory for each semester hour of credit. If taken for 3 or more hours, counts as one required 300+ level lab course within the neuroscience major. Can be repeated once for 3 hours or more to count towards an elective credit within the neuroscience major. Requires a proposal abstract, weekly reports, and a final project that summarizes your activities in the lab. Students wishing to perform their research in an off-campus lab must submit a completed application to the NEUR 310 instructor at least 2 weeks prior to the start of classes. Students are strongly advised to secure research advisors and register for the class well in advance of the start of classes. Repeatable for Credit.
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WHAT WE’re for those interested in neurosurgery » When the Air Hits Your Brain by Frank Vertosick » Do No Harm by Henry Marsh
an introduction to neuro
in depth » Principles of Neural Science by Eric Kandel » Reinforcement Learning by Sutton and Barto
» The Man Who Mistoo Oliver Sacks » The Compass of Pleas » The Brain That Chang Doidge » How the Mind Works » Incognito by David Ea prof!)
re reading... miscellaneous » Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain » Phantoms in the Brain: Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind » Why we sleep: unlocking the power of sleep and dreams
oscience
ok His Wife for a Hat by
sure by David Linden ges Itself by Normal
by Steven Pinker agleman (former rice
the intersection between technology and neuroscience » Connectome by Sebastian Seung » The Singularity Is Near by Ray Kurzweil » How to Create a Mind by Ray Kurzweil
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FROM RICE TO MEDICINE
Dr. Reeta Achari On Her Medical Journey & Experiences Written by Hayley Jue
A Rice alumna, Dr. Reeta Achari operates Integrated Neurology, a neurological practice in Houston, Texas. Named twice on the Houstonia Top Doctor list in 2020 and 2021, Dr. Achari is also an avid cook, dancer, and storyteller; she combines these aspects of her personal life to help people via medicine (1). On October 24, 2021, I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Achari on her specialty, lifestyle, and unique medical journey. Coming from a family of doctors, Dr. Achari wanted to pursue medicine from a young age. At Rice, however, she took her first filmmaking course and fell in love with the art of documentary filmmaking. As a result, after receiving her BA in Biochemistry, Dr. Achari elected to spend a fifth year at Rice, earning a BFA in Art History with a focus in filmmaking. Completing her undergraduate education, Dr. Achari was unsure whether she wanted to pursue medical school or film school, so she worked for about a year. During that time, she decided that medicine was her calling. “In the choice between medical school and film school, the commonality, which is what I love every day…was I love hearing a story. I like to hear people's stories. One, I would have…needed funding [for film school], and someone else make decisions about making movies...The other, I still hear that story in a very intimate setting, and we can actually help, so it's all about the story, and medicine is wonderful about that. You get to participate,” said Dr. Achari. In medical school, Dr. Achari had to make a second difficult but life-altering decision: choosing a specialty. She found that she was especially talented in neuroscience, neurobiology, and brain dissections, but she initially did not want to become a neurologist because her father was one. After being encouraged by her peers to overcome her “psy-
chological issue,” Dr. Achari recognized her talent and love for neurology. She said, “My eyes were opened by my classmates, who saw what I did better than I did myself.” Today, Dr. Achari performs a wide range of neurological procedures, including electrodiagnostic testing of nerves and muscles, electroencephalography, in-patient monitoring for epilepsy surgery, lumbar punctures, and botox injections for migraine and dysthymia. Dr. Achari practices general neurology, although she has naturally sub-specialized in many areas of the profession, including what she terms Nutritional Neurology. To Dr. Achari, Nutritional Neurology “uses scientifically validated laboratory testing to assess cellular micronutrient content and needs” (1). Dr. Achari said that checking blood levels for micronutrients is a process that she first learned in a chemistry course at Rice. “My biochemistry course was excellent. I never thought I would come right back to it, but what I'm doing now is metabolic pathways and understanding where micronutrients fit in and how they cause problems with the nervous system—sometimes undetected because they're not obvious in the way that we diagnose them,” said Dr. Achari. Dr. Achari said she typically starts her workday around 7:15 am when she reviews the daily goals with her staff. Then, from 7:45 am to 3:00 pm, she sees patients with no breaks in between. Her evenings are typically filled with meetings as well, as she is the chair of the Women Physicians Section for Harris County Medical Society and is also on the Education Committee for the Texas Neurological Society. Dr. Achari concludes her day by researching various diseases and medicines—always striving to be a better doctor for her patients.
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With her busy schedule, Dr. Achari said that it has been essential for her to take breaks and maintain a healthy work-life balance. For example, if she thinks that she needs some time off, she will make the decision not to accept appointments for a particular afternoon. She strongly believes in enjoying “all the things that life has to offer.” “I am very dedicated. I love what I do. I am not burned out. Many people are, but I think part of that is always maintaining the other side of my life, knowing that I too need to rest in order to be the best for my patients. I have to also rejuvenate and be there…if all I do is work, I don't know how I would even talk to my patients…You have to have a wide range of interests and knowledge to engage with people who have a wide range of interests and knowledge…I like my lifestyle because I am able to actually have a life,” said Dr. Achari. From starting her education at Roberts Elementary School to graduating from UT McGovern Medical School, Dr. Achari has always called Houston home. She enjoys giving back to the Houston community by combining her passion for cooking and health. Recently, she served as a sous chef for another Houston chef, Monica Pope, for Plant It Forward Farms, a nonprofit organization that teaches refugees how to farm and sell their produce in Houston. For many years, Dr. Achari did cooking demonstrations at the Memorial Villages Farmers Market to help the refugee community learn to use products they had not seen in grocery stores. Dr. Achari said, “I like to do different things. Mainly, I try to do what I tell my patients to do, which is always do something new, something that you've never done before, to try and improve brain health as you start using other parts of your brain.” In addition to cooking, Dr. Achari said that
she enjoys watching movies, listening to music, reading, and dancing. In fact, she was a member of the Rice dance troupe when she attended the university. According to Dr. Achari, one benefit of being a dancer is being able to direct patients to perform certain maneuvers that require specific muscle groups. Neurology is a hands-on specialty, and the COVID pandemic made it difficult to deliver neurological examinations. However, Dr. Achari took advantage of the new situation, having patients lift soup cans from their pantries, retrieve a gallon of milk from their refrigerators, and walk up and downstairs. Catching glimpses of her patients’ home environments, Dr. Achari said that she also became a life coach and a declutter artist. “The advantage is I was actually doing house calls, so I got to see people's environment. So somebody who was losing things all the time, if they had an incredibly messy environment, one of the things we can do is sort of create a neater place and a flow for them…We could improve their day-today activities in terms of not losing things…The other thing that happened is not only did I go into people's homes, [but I also] went into people's pantries. So I know what's in their refrigerator; I know what's in their pantry. ‘What did you have for dinner? Well, let's go take a look.’” Dr. Achari encourages Rice students to persevere through the intensity of medical education. She said, “There are things that you will miss, but I don't think of it as [a] sacrifice; it is what is required to gain the knowledge and expertise to do what I was going to do. So what have I had to sacrifice? I don't think I've sacrificed anything. I chose this, and I'm glad I made that choice.” She also said that “there is no shortcut to being a physician” and that future doctors should be
excited for change and uncertainty with constant evolutions to medical technology. “When we went to Rice, we were ready for discomfort. Bad dorm rooms with horrible beds and a really bad central kitchen… We didn't have serveries. We had the commons, and the kitchen staff prepared some of the things before you, but we knew that. We knew going in that it was going to be about bad food, and it was going to be about discomfort and weird, small, smelly dorm rooms. We look forward to that, right?... Our mindset was already prepared for what was to come. And I think if you're going into medicine, you should be excited for that. This is going to be super hard work…You're going into forage, and you're going to come out the other side, fully-trained, ready, experienced, and ready to help people. There's no shortcut to that. So just get yourself mentally ready. I find if you get yourself mentally ready for anything, you will succeed.” References Integrated Neurology.(n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2022, from https://www.integratedneurology.com/
Design by Bryant Polanco Edited by Kirim Kim
About Integrated Neurology: “I am often asked about the name of my practice, Integrated Neurology. This name encompasses and represents my holistic approach to neurological issues as well as brain and general health. My training is in allopathic medicine, which is science and evidence based. I also bring cultural philosophies and methodologies from Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, and others to my practice. Many of these practices, such as meditation, deep breathing, relaxation techniques and Tai Chi have been and continue to be studied for their benefits in managing illness and promoting health. I use medications as and when necessary and customize dosage regimens to each individual. I incorporate information about lifestyle (sleep, diet, exercise, etc.), cultural and ancestral heritage, social structure (family/work) and other factors that may influence health and disease. This approach acknowledges the Brain-Body (Mind-Body) connection. My ‘integrated’ approach uses a bio-psycho-social model enabling me to understand my patients’ lives allowing proper diagnoses and treatment. The knowledge also allows me to empower my patients with information not only to treat illness, but to promote health for themselves, their families and community. My goal is to promote neurological health, prevent neurological diseases, when possible, and treat when necessary.”
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THE BATTLE BATTLe AGAINST
Glioblastomas
A Brief History Of The Battle Against Gliobastomas At MD Anderson Written by Dheerj Jasuja
Cancer. The heralded “emperor of all mal-
adies.” Our oldest record of the disease dates back to 3000 B.C., and it was deemed incurable by the Egyptians at the time. For over 4900 years, cancer remained unbeatable. In fact, it was only in the 1940s that Sidney Farber discovered that aminopterin caused remissions in children with leukemia, a type of blood cancer, giving hope to millions that one day cancer would be cured (American Cancer Society, 2018). Over the last 80 years, our understanding of cancer has dramatically increased, and we’ve pioneered various treatments for cancer, including chemotherapies, antibody-based drugs, and stem cell transplants. Of course, the battle against cancer is far from over. Glioblastoma, the most common type of primary brain tumor, is one of the deadliest cancers — only 7.2% of patients survive for over five years, and most die within eight months (National Brain Tumor Society, 2022). Given the grim prognosis of the disease, it is important to understand the causes and pathology of glioblastomas. Like many other cancers, there are a couple of factors that increase the likelihood of developing a glioblastoma. Namely, exposure to carcinogens and ionizing radiation therapy can damage the DNA in neurons and other brain cells, leading to cancer-promoting mutations. Further, rare hereditary diseases like Turcot syndrome are associated with mutations that cause glioblastomas, but they account for the minority of glioblastoma cases (Tran, 2019). These mutations make cells cancerous through ten fundamental changes: deregulating cellular energetics, sustaining proliferation, evading growth suppressors, avoiding immune destruction, achieving immortality, promoting inflammation, inducing metasta-
sis, activating angiogenesis, capitalizing on genome instability, and resisting cell death. These ten factors are commonly referred to as the hallmarks of cancer. Simply put, these properties allow cancer cells to live forever, grow uncontrollably, and spread to other parts of the body. The resulting tumor(s) impair bodily functions by killing surrounding healthy cells and deforming organs. Based on our current knowledge of glioblastoma, medical professionals commonly treat patients with surgery to remove most of the tumor, followed by aggressive rounds of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy to kill
Figure 1. An illustration of a gliobastoma in a brain(Harvad Ragiology, 2021)
any remaining cancerous cells. This form of treatment has been shown to prolong glioblastoma patients’ lifespan, but does not result in total remission. We needed a new way to combat glioblastomas and truly cure patients of this disease (Nayak 2018). Fortunately, thousands of labs across the world are working on defeating glioblastomas, including those at MD Anderson’s Cancer Center. To tackle glioblastomas, MD Anderson launched the Glioblastoma Moon Shot (GBS) initiative in the fall of 2015. Since then, the
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GBS team has released a series of papers that explore new avenues for fighting glioblastomas. One of these avenues, immunotherapy, is especially promising. Seven years ago, Dr. Candelaria Gomez-Manzano and Dr. Juan Fueyo of MD Anderson discovered that they could utilize viruses and the body’s immune response to destroy tumors. They injected patients with a modified adenovirus (Delta 24) that binds to adenovirus receptors present only on cancerous cells. Upon binding, the virus enters the cancerous cell, makes numerous copies of itself, and causes the cancer cell to lyse (explode). The copies of the virus then move on to destroy other cancer cells. Compounding the viral attack, T-cells (a part of our immune system) recognize the presence of the adenovirus once they are activated by several molecular pathways. The activated T-cells hunt down the cancer cells and mark
them for destruction by the immune system (Monie et al., 2021; Wendler, 2015). This novel treatment was an encouraging step — an immunotherapy-treated patient made history by living cancer-free longer than any other glioblastoma victim — and since 2015, labs around the world have been working to improve upon Dr. Gomez-Manzano and Dr. Fueyo’s initial design. The expansion of the immunotherapy field has resulted in the creation of new “viral missiles,” which deliver chemotherapy drugs directly to the cancerous cells they attack (Yu & Quail, 2021). Researchers part of the Glioblastoma Moon Shot program continue to pioneer discoveries in immunotherapy, and as Rice students, we have the unique opportunity to contribute to this growing body of research at MD Anderson. If you are interested, be sure to take advantage of this resource and
Figure II. The ten hallmarks of cancer and proposed treatments for each (Hanahan, 2011).
Design by Bryant Polanco, Edited by Nikhil Mummaneni
Figure III. An illustration of the immunotherapy mechanism of action (Monie et al., 2021)
send an email to glioblastoma researchers at MD Anderson, such as those at the Bhat lab, DePinho lab, and Yee lab. So while the battle against cancer may be far from over, you can help bring us closer to defeating this deadly disease.
References
Hanahan, D. (2011). Hallmarks of Cancer: The Next Generation. Cell. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.cell.com/fulltext/S00928674(11)00127-9 Harvard Radiology. (2022). MRI Appearance of Primary Brian Tumors. MRI picture of a glioblastoma. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from http:// www.aboutcancer.com/mri_gbm.htm Monie, D. D. (2021, February 1). Synthetic and systems biology principles in the design of programmable oncolytic virus immunotherapies for glioblastoma. Journal of Neurosurgery. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://thejns.org/focus/view/journals/neurosurg-focus/50/2/article-pE10.xml?tab_ body=p df-23713 National Brain Tumor Society. (2022, April 5). GBM Awareness Day. National Brain Tumor Society. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://braintumor.org/ take-action/gbm-awareness-day/
Nayak, L. (2022). Ask the expert: Q & A on brain cancer. Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.dana-farber.org/ health-library/articles/ask-the-expert--q-and-a-on-brain-can cer/ Tran, T. (2019, September 19). Glioblastoma. NORD (National Organization for Rare Disorders). Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/glioblastoma-multiforme/ Wendler, R. (2015, October 23). Unleashing the cold virus to kill cancer. MD Anderson Cancer Center. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.mdanderson.org/publications/conquest/unleashing-the-cold-virus-to-kill-can cer.h4236-1589835.html Wyant, T. (2022). Understanding what cancer is: Ancient Times to present. American Cancer Society. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-basics/history-of-cancer/what-is-cancer.html/ Yu, M. W. (2021, May 5). Immunotherapy for glioblastoma: Current progress and challenges. Frontiers. Retrieved April 9, 2022, from https:// www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.676301/full
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Every March, the CDC recognizes Brain Injury Awareness Month, a time of year that promotes a holistic understanding of what traumatic brain injury (TBI) entails, the current treatment techniques, and a special look into the field’s research initiatives. In order to contribute scientific literacy for TBI, trauma neurosurgeon, Dr. Ryan Kitagawa, an Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at UT Health/McGovern Medical School and practicing physician in Memorial Hermann’s Neurological Surgery department, discussed his personal expertise on TBI via Zoom interview in the name of Brain Injury Awareness Month. From KPRC’s previous news spotlight during 2021’s Brain Injury Awareness Month, Dr. Kitagawa defines brain injury as a broad spectrum of conditions such as gunshot wounds, falls, motor vehicle accidents, and concussions. However, he explains there are non-traumatic injuries that can still cause severe damage to the brain; examples being, strokes, infectious diseases, seizures, encephalitis, and drowning. After evaluating this interview, a natural followup question is whether circumstances such as aneurysms or epilepsy would be considered TBI. In this year’s interview, Dr. Kitagawa informed that “although an aneurysm [a vessel in the brain that “balloons” and fills with blood (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 2019)] is a form of brain injury, it’s not traumatic in nature”. He explained that if an individual needed medical attention for such a condition, most likely they would seek help from a cerebrovascular specialist, a physician who focuses on the specifics of blood circulation in the brain. As for epilepsy, instead of falling under the umbrella of traumatic brain injury, this condition has components of electrophysiology that do not fall within a trauma neurosurgeon’s skillset. This is largely due to epilepsy’s emphasis on electrical and nerve cell activities, neither of which are Dr. Kitagawa’s primary field of focus. Instead, Dr. Kitagawa’s expertise is in “cranial emergencies”, neurological conditions that are life-threatening unless attended to immediately.
An example of a cranial emergency that Dr. Kitagawa treats is hypertensive hemorrhages, which happen “when someone’s blood pressure is really really high, [it can cause] bleed[ing] into their brain”. He also tends to large territory strokes where “the brain can swell and [needs] surgery to decompress [the impacts of the stroke].” Dr. Kitagawa also gave a further illustration of a condition he frequently treats called hydrocephalus, which is when there is a substantial amount of fluid pressing on the brain (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2020). To treat hydrocephalus, surgeons are tasked with removing the liquid that builds upon the surface of the brain, therefore decreasing the pressure. After talking through these examples, it became clear that although most prototype examples of TBI are scenarios such as car accidents or violence, some of the most dangerous instances of neurotrauma are non-traumatic in nature, yet still extremely severe, and highly variable. Another avenue explored during this talk was the research and collaboration aspect of TBI. Since entering the field, Dr. Kitagawa’s work in academia presents an interesting connection to heart attacks. He explained that “a lot of our patients who present to us with some sort of neurological issue or neurological problem can also have other issues going on, specifically with their hearts.” This raises a challenging issue since “what we do to treat heart attacks and strokes is with blood thinners, so if someone is bleeding into their head, you can’t really use a lot of blood thinners, and so to find the balance between the two is an area that we’ve looked at quite a bit.” Dr. Kitagawa also does research on antiplatelet and anticoagulant medications, drugs that stop blood cells from “sticking together” and clotting. As mentioned before with heart attacks, the goal of the research is trying to find a balance between simultaneous bleeding and clotting in the brain during
treatment. This is a particularly interesting research avenue for the medical community as it showcases how interconnected the body is with the brain and vice versa. A further interesting connection to a field outside neurosurgery that Dr. Kitagawa discussed in the interview was plastic surgery. He described that: “Sometimes you have to involve an expert from a different field, and so for example, if someone has a gunshot wound to the head, and you do their brain surgery, most of the time we can get the skin closed ourselves without any issues but if there is a significant amount of blast injury where a large part of the scalp is missing, in order to get it closed, sometimes we have to call in somebody like plastic surgeons to help us get the skin closed and do additional maneuvers.” Hearing firsthand the efforts of multiple surgeons and medical doctors working in unison to treat their patients further demonstrates the necessity for a wellrounded workforce of doctors. Not only does TBI require the competence of neurotrauma surgeons such as Dr. Kitagawa, but there is also a collaboration with other fields handling critical care such as cerebrovascular specialists, cardiologists, plastic surgeons, and more. Closing out this interview, there is still a lot more to learn about Dr. Kitagawa’s line of work and expertise in the field. However, it’s logical to conclude that seeking medical attention and staying informed about potential signs of TBI is critical for neurological health. Neurosurgery is already an extremely diverse field of medicine and speaking with Dr. Kitagawa firsthand has greatly improved societal awareness of neurotrauma as well as shed light on the exciting treatments that are both available and in the midst of the research process.
References KPRC. (March 18, 2021). “Brain Injury Awareness Month: A Month-Long Campaign to Raise Awareness about Brain Injuries”. Accessed February 18, 2022. https://www.click2houston. com/houston-life/2021/03/18/braininjury-awareness-month-a-month-longcampaign-to-raise-awareness-aboutbrain-injuries/. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2019, August 9). “Brain aneurysm.” Mayo Clinic. Accessed April 10, 2022. https://www. mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/ brain-aneurysm/symptoms-causes/ syc-20361483 McGovern Medical School. “Ryan S. Kitagawa, MD | Neurosurgeon.” Accessed March 17, 2022. https:// med.uth.edu/neurosurgery/faculty/ ryan-s-kitagawa-md/. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. (2020, April). “Hydrocephalus fact sheet.” Accessed April 10, 2022. https://www.ninds.nih. gov/Disorders/Patient-CaregiverEducation/Fact-Sheets/ Hydrocephalus-Fact-Sheet
STARTING PAID RESEARCH AS AN AMATEUR: my dive into neurogenetics research makayla brown
In my freshman year at Rice, I was inexperienced in research and too burnt out to know where to start. Overwhelmed by the amount of work I had to do in my spring semester, I didn’t apply to any of the paid summer research programs my peers recommended to me. It was only during finals week that I realized, shoot, I need summer plans. Most on-campus research opportunities were off-grounds for me, as I needed to make a wage to be able to afford rent and living costs. Getting a full-time job seemed like the best bet, but I couldn’t find one that appealed to my pre-med interests. I decided to open the emails I’d received from Rice’s Neuroscience Opportunities listserv, and I found a job listing for a full-time undergraduate research intern at BCM that would pay almost twice of Texas’ minimum wage. The research involved the genetics behind neurodegenerative disorders, which I was interested in but barely knew anything about. I hadn’t taken a single genetics or biochemistry class, two of the suggested classes listed to apply for this internship, but I decided the internship sounded so appealing to me I would send the PI an email explaining my interest in the position and see what happens. Several weeks later, I got an email back from the PI offering an interview. I went into the interview as myself and was honest about what I do and don’t know about neurogenetics. I was surprised to receive a job offer several days later, at the end of May! I would be last-minute moving to Houston for summer 2021 for a paid internship doing research that sounded interesting to me, without any prior research experience. I was so excited.
To receive credit for my neuroscience degree, I enrolled in NEUR 310 for the summer term. I had to put in a little bit of extra work for this course, including writing summaries of my research every week and producing a final paper about the progress I’ve made. Since my position required helping multiple postdocs and graduate students in the lab with their research, this was a bit confusing at first. Nonetheless, I made sure to write down the questions I had about each project I was working on to discuss with my coworkers and PI, and was able to learn a lot about the lab in a short time.
One of the most memorable parts of my internship, however, was having fun with my coworkers! Research can be redundant, and we would spend a lot of time staring into a microscope to sort drosophila by phenotype or doing western blots. While performing these tasks, I would try to get to know my coworkers better and bond with them. I even had a chance to binge watch Nathan for You with my fellow intern and lab tech coworkers every morning while changing the fly food. When I left my position before the semester started again, I found my coworkers’ reactions heartwarming. I had originally been insecure entering the position since I knew nothing about research, but they reassured me that the extra effort I put into learning more about each of their projects and helping them out paid off in the end. I was also surprised to hear that they would miss my conversations and the “laughs” that I brought to the lab. Now, I’m far from an extrovert, but I enjoyed my lab so much that I evolved into a big extrovert when I was in the lab environment. I was happy to hear that my attempts to bond with my coworkers had been a lasting success. My advice to anyone looking for a research opportunity but feeling underqualified is to be honest, but still go for it! Taking the right classes isn’t everything in research. Sometimes, all it takes to catch up with what’s going on is honest discussion about what you do and don’t understand with your PI/coworkers. Being near the TMC, Rice students have an advantage when it comes to research positions, as many labs in the area have had positive experiences with Rice students and take risks on us. Don’t be afraid to apply for paid research positions, even if you’re in your freshman year. With a little bit of optimism and authenticity, you too may end up having a fun summer job in research!
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Rice Neurotransmitter team would like to thank Dr. Flynn and Dr. Lefeldt for their support in producing this first article and the team for their contributions to the journal.
Executive Mayuri Vaish Nick Gonzalez Sahi Puvvala Celeste Wang Design Bryant Polanco Ariel Ma Editors Nikhil Mummaneni Ryan Wang Stephen Pang Kirim Kim Writers Autumn Hildebrand Sai Govindu Makayla Brown Dheerj Jasuja Anuska Santra Hayley Jue