Leeann Brigham '09 decided to make a change this summer. The native of Troy, N.Y., heard about an internship position in the UCLA neuroscience lab and decided to head across the country "to try something completely different -- live in a new place, work with new people." Transplanting is never easy, but Brigham made the right choice: she loves her work in the lab.
Brigham was one of more than 20 Hamiltonians who received college funding to participate in a summer internship. Work experience is becoming more and more necessary for college students but many opportunities are unpaid and require students to pay their own housing and living expenses as well as working for free.
Thanks to alumni and parent donations, Hamilton students can apply for funding to support them while they work in a field of interest with an organization that cannot pay them. Though Brigham works in an unpaid internship, she received a stipend from Hamilton alumnus Bruce Dobkin '69, who is a professor of neurology at UCLA's Geffen School of Medicine. Dobkin offers an annual award and lab position to a qualified Hamilton student; this year, Brigham.
Brigham works on two different projects, one which deals with neuron repair and the other with stroke recovery. The first, which deals with processing brain tissue to be observed under a microscope, has taught her quite a lot of technical skills. Brigham is responsible for sectioning the tissue into thin wafers, staining it (a process which takes two days), and mounting the tissue onto slides. The team is looking for a particular protein found in mouse brains which they believe may be expressed in newly-born neurons.
The second project deals with behavioral testing and sensory functioning of post-stroke mice. The team trains the mice, induces a stroke, and tests the mouse's performance at the same task. Here Brigham is responsible for testing and taking care of the mice. "The lab hopes to use behavioral tasks to measure success of treatment with the proteins being investigated," she added as an explanation as to why she was working at these two different projects.
Brigham has been rewarded not only with lab skills but with a clearer desire of what she wants to do and what about science she enjoys. "I found that I really like doing bench work. Doing experiments in a real lab setting is a lot different than in class because you don't always know what's going to happen or if it will work." She also has the chance to meet different people; Brigham is staying in a UCLA dorm which houses mainly international students. "My roommates are from Korea and Japan and I've also met people from Taiwan, Turkey, Dubai, Venezuela, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Russia and India," Brigham said.
During the school year, Brigham is an active member of the women's rugby team; she also serves as the team's treasurer and works as a tutor at the Writing Center. After Hamilton, she plans to pursue a career in neurology, although she added that "this internship has also made me consider a combined M.D./Ph.D. so that I can go on in neuroscience as well as practice medicine."
-- by Lisbeth Redfield
Brigham was one of more than 20 Hamiltonians who received college funding to participate in a summer internship. Work experience is becoming more and more necessary for college students but many opportunities are unpaid and require students to pay their own housing and living expenses as well as working for free.
Thanks to alumni and parent donations, Hamilton students can apply for funding to support them while they work in a field of interest with an organization that cannot pay them. Though Brigham works in an unpaid internship, she received a stipend from Hamilton alumnus Bruce Dobkin '69, who is a professor of neurology at UCLA's Geffen School of Medicine. Dobkin offers an annual award and lab position to a qualified Hamilton student; this year, Brigham.
Brigham works on two different projects, one which deals with neuron repair and the other with stroke recovery. The first, which deals with processing brain tissue to be observed under a microscope, has taught her quite a lot of technical skills. Brigham is responsible for sectioning the tissue into thin wafers, staining it (a process which takes two days), and mounting the tissue onto slides. The team is looking for a particular protein found in mouse brains which they believe may be expressed in newly-born neurons.
The second project deals with behavioral testing and sensory functioning of post-stroke mice. The team trains the mice, induces a stroke, and tests the mouse's performance at the same task. Here Brigham is responsible for testing and taking care of the mice. "The lab hopes to use behavioral tasks to measure success of treatment with the proteins being investigated," she added as an explanation as to why she was working at these two different projects.
Brigham has been rewarded not only with lab skills but with a clearer desire of what she wants to do and what about science she enjoys. "I found that I really like doing bench work. Doing experiments in a real lab setting is a lot different than in class because you don't always know what's going to happen or if it will work." She also has the chance to meet different people; Brigham is staying in a UCLA dorm which houses mainly international students. "My roommates are from Korea and Japan and I've also met people from Taiwan, Turkey, Dubai, Venezuela, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Russia and India," Brigham said.
During the school year, Brigham is an active member of the women's rugby team; she also serves as the team's treasurer and works as a tutor at the Writing Center. After Hamilton, she plans to pursue a career in neurology, although she added that "this internship has also made me consider a combined M.D./Ph.D. so that I can go on in neuroscience as well as practice medicine."
-- by Lisbeth Redfield
