Transitioned to working solely in Marc Hershenson’s lab using differentiated airway epithelial cells to model rhinovirus infection.0.75 FTE (full time effort)

Research fellow investigating the effect of particulate matter on outcomes in patients with CRSwNP. Working under the support of Dr. Amarbir Gill and Dr. Marc Hershenson. Contributed research and reviewed early stage K08 and P30 grants, leading to successful award of funding for P30 grant ($35,000).

Distribute marketing materials to promote voter registration at >10 college campuses in the Midwest.

As Lead Graduate Student Instructor (GSI), I managed 5 other GSIs for a graduate level Cellular Biology course. In this role, I managed deadlines for assignments, maintained the course canvas page, and communicated with the other GSIs, students, and instructors to facilitate the course. Once a week, I lead a discussion section of 9 students, who left positive (~90% excellent/10% great) on my performance, expressing their satisfaction with my abilities as a discussion leader.

As a Graduate Student Research Assistant (GSRA), I performed original research leading to the discovery of a mechanism of mitochondrial protein oligomerization mediated by a GTPase mutation. This data is presented in my first-author publication, currently undergoing peer-review, but available on bioRxiv (Eberhardt, E. et al, 2022). I successfully defended my thesis on December 2nd, 2022 and completed all degree requirements in January 2023. At this position, I was a fundamental member of a laboratory, where I made reagents (pH’ed buffers, chemical stocks, and detergent stocks), generated samples for my experiments (electron microscopy grids/cryoEM grids, SDS-PAGEs, agarose DNA gels), properly used laboratory equipment (FPLC, Western Blot cassettes, cryoEM microscopes [Arctica, Glacios, Krios], transmission electron microscopes [Technai T12 & Morgagni]), and maintained cell culture [SF9, High Five, Freestyle HEK 293Ts.During this time, I also edited grant proposals, offering feedback and line edits. I edited for an R25 that was successfully funded. Additionally, I was awarded funding for a T32 grant for ~2 years of funding, after competitive re-application (5th out of 15 applications). Finally, I was involved in DEI through my program (DEI taskforce) for over 2 years, volunteered in scientific outreach (Michigan DNA Day and UMiSci), and wrote/edited over 4 pieces for MiSciWriters.

As a pre-candidate, I rotated through a variety of labs and completed graduate level coursework.

In this role, I gained valuable wet lab and ImageJ experience while working on colorectal cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma disease models. In a collaboration with Promega (Madison, WI), I tested hundreds of samples using immunohistochemistry (IHC) for cancer hallmarks. Using a protocol that I optimized for IHC, I was able to contribute novel scientific data regarding the effects of HZE (high atomic energy) on hepatocellular carcinoma formation in a mouse model.