Summer Research Fellow Spotlight Cheyenne Chandler
"The purpose of this project is to understand better liver disease in humans. The liver is the major metabolic organ in mammals. The study is to compare gene expression patterns in eWAT and BAT between Zhx2+ (mice with the wild-type Zhx2 gene) and Zhx2 - (Zhx2 knock-out mice, which do not make any Zhx2 protein) when these mice are fed a normal chow diet or high-fat cholesterol diet."
Q: How did you first get interested in undergraduate research at UK?
A: "I began my undergraduate research journey, as an ABT major where research is required and classes prepare us for the skills needed for an independent research study. In my journey of finding a research lab to conduct genetic studies, I found the Spear lab and Dr. Spear through prior ABT students. After one meeting with Dr. Spear, I fell in love with the lab and became thoroughly interested and desired to learn more."
Q: How long have you been engaged in undergraduate research?
A: "I have been engaged in undergraduate research for one year."
Q: Describe what a typical day of remote summer research activity looks like for you. How does this differ from your pre-COVID research activity?
A: "A typical day of remote research at the moment in participating in a workshop designed to instruct students and lab faculty of R programming, Bio-informatics, and an extensive Excel Workshop to analyze collected data from mouse studies. After the workshop has concluded for the day, I spend time reviewing a database provided by the Spear lab to read and analyze past research papers written and to find other research papers in journals for additional genes. This research is significantly different from pre-COVID due to the Spear lab being a in house wet lab. Common research would be conducting experiments for collected mouse tissues by RT-qPCR, genotyping mice for the Spear lab faculty, and using software to analyze collected data."
Q: What has been the most exciting aspect of your research so far?
A: "The most exciting aspect of research that I have conducted is using the tools from a workshop for lab faculty that teaches Bio-informatics and many more skills. The skills has given me countless new ways to use Excel when analyzing data, as well as common databases such as the NIH. These new skills, when returning in the fall, will help me understand and go into my research at a deeper level. "
Q: What advice would you give to other UK students thinking about doing research?
A: "Any advice I would give to other UK students thinking of research is to be open to new things, don't give up on yourself, ask questions, find a fantastic mentor, and just do it. Research is such a new and a great opportunity to learn more about yourself and to collect new experiences and the knowledge you gain is priceless."
The UK Office of Undergraduate Research's Summer Research Fellowship program provides undergraduates with the opportunity to study in a wide variety of disciplines while doing intensive and self-directed research with a sustainability focus under the supervision of a faculty mentor.