By Esma Yerlikaya The Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award – otherwise known as the F31 fellowship – is a highly prestigious research grant designed to cover a graduate student's stipend and tuition. Beyond providing critical funding, being awarded an F31 fellowship serves as a significant acknowledgment of a researcher’s ability to … Continue reading Third Time’s the Charm: My F31 Fellowship Journey
Biomedical
Naturally Misleading: Uncovering What’s Hiding in Our Food
By: Jenny Lausch Imagine you are doing your weekly shopping at Aldi on a Saturday afternoon. You are a graduate student just trying to get by and do your best to stay healthy despite your crazy hours in lab and (very) limited free time. You are trying to limit your soda intake, so instead you … Continue reading Naturally Misleading: Uncovering What’s Hiding in Our Food
Heartbeat: One Researcher’s Advocacy Journey from the Lab to Human Impact
By Zari McCullers At a forum I attended in early October, I sat in a room filled with fellow researchers – primarily in the basic and biomedical sciences – ready to hear about the power of patient advocacy. This event was meant to remind us not just why we do our work, but for whom. … Continue reading Heartbeat: One Researcher’s Advocacy Journey from the Lab to Human Impact
Cracking the Code: Characterization of Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer
By Olivia Marx The following is a summary of my PhD thesis work entitled “Transcriptomic Characterization of Early-onset Colorectal Cancer”, which I will defend on July 25th, 2024. I’m so glad to be able to share it with everyone. Thanks to LTS for this opportunity to share my dissertation with more than the four people … Continue reading Cracking the Code: Characterization of Early-Onset Colorectal Cancer
What Happened to Grandpa’s Hair: An Explanation of Male Pattern Hair Loss
By Sarah G Latario Have you ever wondered why men bald differently than women? While hair loss does not exclusively affect people with an X and Y chromosome, male pattern baldness, also known as androgenetic alopecia (AA), affects over 50% of men by age 50. The characteristic pattern of hair loss associated with AA begins … Continue reading What Happened to Grandpa’s Hair: An Explanation of Male Pattern Hair Loss
Pemphigus Vulgaris: A Rare Skin BlistERing Disease
By Coryn Hoffman The skin, or the epidermis, is the largest organ in your body, but have you ever thought about the structural components that allow your skin to stay intact? Cell-cell junctions are critical for maintaining the integrity of the epidermis, which protects your body from dehydration and external elements such as infection, physical … Continue reading Pemphigus Vulgaris: A Rare Skin BlistERing Disease
People Died and Nobody Paid Attention
By Rachel Kang Introduction The Castro District, known locally as The Castro, was one of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States. It transformed from a predominately working-class neighborhood to a hotspot of LGBTQ+ activism in the 1970s. Gay men flooded the streets, dancing, smiling, and proud to be who they were and to … Continue reading People Died and Nobody Paid Attention
If you give a mouse medical marijuana…
By Victoria Vernail If you give a mouse medical marijuana… Could it treat cancer? Does it minimize pain? Can it decrease anxiety? Does it lower blood pressure? The Penn State College of Medicine (COM) is trying to answer these questions and more through the Medical Marijuana Academic Clinical Research Center (MMACRC). This collaborative research effort … Continue reading If you give a mouse medical marijuana…
Robust and Efficient Dose-Response Curve Estimation for Drug Discovery
Xinying Fang, Ph.D. candidate in Biostatistics In drug development, it is very important to understand how the dose of a drug relates to its effectiveness, a relationship known as the dose-response curve. Scientists often use a formula called the median effect equation to understand this relationship, but there are some issues with using a simple … Continue reading Robust and Efficient Dose-Response Curve Estimation for Drug Discovery
Ironing Out the Details at the Blood-Brain Barrier: A Summary of My Dissertation
By Stephanie Baringer, Ph.D. The following is a synopsis of my Ph.D. thesis that I defended on July 17, 2023, titled Regulation of Brain Iron Acquisition and Misappropriation in Alzheimer's Disease. Thank you to LTS for the years of opportunity to write about my deep-dive interests and now for the chance to share this summary … Continue reading Ironing Out the Details at the Blood-Brain Barrier: A Summary of My Dissertation
Lions Talk Science 