ON THE LOOKOUT

10/20-10/26

Last week, I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Arundhati Jana, a research assistant professor at the University of Illinois and Dr. Yuan Bo Peng, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington. Dr. Jana is currently investigating the role of vasculature in regulating inflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease and Dr. Peng is researching the neurophysiological mechanisms of pain, providing me with two very different backgrounds of knowledge with engrossing discussions. As I start putting together the pieces of my original work on Alzheimer's Disease, the  interviews proved to be extremely helpful in furthering my understanding of the pathophysiology of AD. With Dr. Peng, I obtained a new perspective on how psychology can intertwine with neuroscience and the conversation sparked my interest in studying the correlation of brain waves with AD (This will be another element of my patient guide). Although Dr. Peng provided valuable information, his work primarily focuses on the branch of psychology and therefore, I was saddened to realize that I will be unable to consider him as a potential mentor. On the other hand, my interview with Dr. Jana allowed me to learn about her experience and journey as a neuroscientist and research professor and her studies on endothelial cells and the blood brain barrier. As a professional in the field of neuroscience, it is crucial to be patient, knowledgeable, and diligent. Dr. Jana embodied all of these traits as she transformed difficult concepts into simpler analogies that I was able to understand. She seems like the perfect mentor for me and I am definitely thinking of asking her to be my mentor. These next few weeks, my primary goal is to get in touch with more professionals and conduct interviews in order to obtain more information on AD from primary sources and to increase my chances of obtaining a mentor who is willing to take time out of their day to guide me. 

Additionally, last week, I was able to attend meetings conducted by staff at Microsoft and learn about effectively utilizing LinkedIn to my advantage and also acquired pointers on making my PowerPoints stand out. These are both extremely useful skills that will help me as I immerse myself in the corporate world. I will use a lot of the advice that I gained regarding LinkedIn this week to aid in my search for interviewees and eventually, a mentor. I will make sure to maximize my chances of finding responsive professionals and definitely keep my eyes open as I navigate through the wide interweb. This week, I also intend to embellish my digital portfolio and utilize critique from my peers to improve it.