For my practicum project I worked in a bioengineering lab on campus in the A James Clark Hall. I won the BIOE Undergraduate Paid Research award in fall 2023 and this meant I could choose to work on a project within a bunch of labs. I chose to work in Dr. He’s lab because he was doing work with nanomedicine and cancer stem cells so I thought it would be really interesting. I would recommend applying for the award as it helped me a lot in getting integrated in research at UMD. Another way to get involved in any kind of research is to contact the principal investigators of the labs directly. Doing research on their lab websites is also helpful to see what they do and if it is something you would want to do. Every lab is different so some might have more formal applications while others you can email directly.
I performed several tasks at my site directly relating to running encapsulation experiments and analyzing the stem cells afterwards through cryosectioning and testing for different levels of stemness through markers. In my POA, specific details are listed on the process. Some of my tasks were making the PDMS devices, purifying hyaluronic acid and alginate, and culturing cells. I would also make D-Mannitol and 200mM calcium chloride for collecting the capsules during the experiment.
I learned a lot about the science of stem cells throughout working at this lab. The hypothesis of my project was that stem cells could grow on their own in isolation, whereas non stem cells would die. The importance of this research is pretty large as cancer stem cells are widely misunderstood, but are believed to be the main reason for tumor metastasis in the body. The hypothesis was proved to be true as only some of the encapsulated cells grew into clones.
I have gained a lot of knowledge and appreciation from this experience. Being able to apply scientific concepts to something that is working towards the greater good of society and helping people in some way was very fulfilling. I have come to really enjoy the societal applications of bioengineering even more. Since starting my work in this lab, I have considered taking the PhD route in my future studies after undergrad. I think it would be cool to be on the other side of this and have my own project and maybe an undergrad student to mentor. Though I would not say this has changed my future career plans because I have always been interested in biotechnology and therapeutics research.