Here's some photos from my week at USD so far.
I actually started my internship early. I went on Monday and Wednesday afternoons for a few weeks beforehand. During that time I was helping out with next semester's Design of Coffee Class (I took this class that she taught last semester at USD). I created the budgeting plan and did inventory. Afterwards, I started working on the data analysis of Dr. Ngo's current research project, which, among other things, is what I'm currently working on.
This research project (which is really cool btw) studies the impregnation of an inflammatory drug (flurbiprofen) onto a PMMA sample and how it releases in the body. PMMA is a material commonly used for creating bone implants. The idea is that if the inflammatory drug is released from the implant inside of the body, it will greatly reduce the risk for an infection after surgery.
So what have I been doing? I have been taking the data and analyzing it in order for us to understand the information the data gives us. (The first time I've ever analyzed data like this before btw) On Tuesday was the first time I worked directly with the chemicals and samples in order to gather data in the lab downstairs. I felt like a doctor because I had gloves on and was using a syringe to draw the liquid :)
Honestly, I'm really excited to see where the research goes from here and learning about this research and how to do research. Since this is the first time I've done lab work like this I'm a bit nervous but, after shadowing two different people and working in the lab for a full day with Lauren I'm pretty confident I can independently continue to do the measurements henceforth. And hopefully I can also work on some Coffee Class stuff later on.
This research project (which is really cool btw) studies the impregnation of an inflammatory drug (flurbiprofen) onto a PMMA sample and how it releases in the body. PMMA is a material commonly used for creating bone implants. The idea is that if the inflammatory drug is released from the implant inside of the body, it will greatly reduce the risk for an infection after surgery.
So what have I been doing? I have been taking the data and analyzing it in order for us to understand the information the data gives us. (The first time I've ever analyzed data like this before btw) On Tuesday was the first time I worked directly with the chemicals and samples in order to gather data in the lab downstairs. I felt like a doctor because I had gloves on and was using a syringe to draw the liquid :)
Honestly, I'm really excited to see where the research goes from here and learning about this research and how to do research. Since this is the first time I've done lab work like this I'm a bit nervous but, after shadowing two different people and working in the lab for a full day with Lauren I'm pretty confident I can independently continue to do the measurements henceforth. And hopefully I can also work on some Coffee Class stuff later on.