The experience I had this summer has inspired me and equipped me to pursue laboratory research with even greater depth and fervor.
I will always remember the first train ride I took in Switzerland. I was traveling from Zürich to Lausanne, where I would be living for the next two months while working in a neuroscience laboratory at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), and I was captured by the country’s beautiful landscape, quaint villages, and lovely cities. I remember thinking that perhaps as time went by, I would gradually become accustomed to being in Switzerland and my wonder at its beauty would never be quite so great as it was in those first moments. However, this was not the case at all: over and over again, the beauty of Switzerland - the Alps, the lakes, the pastures, the cities - would take my breath away. This beautiful country was the setting for the incredible research experience I had at the EPFL. During my time there, I worked in the Brain Mind Institute in the laboratory of Dr. Brian McCabe. The McCabe laboratory studies synapses (i.e. functional connections between brain cells) and neuronal transmission (i.e. communication between brain cells) at the cellular and molecular level and applies this research to neurodegenerative diseases using Drosophila, the common fruit fly, as a model organism. My project in the laboratory was to lay the foundation for establishing a model neuronal circuit in Drosophila in which to study spreading and interneuronal imbalance of the protein Tau. Tau is involved in the progression of a number of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, and in order to understand these diseases, it is important to understand how pathological Tau spreads throughout the brain and how it contributes to neurodegeneration. For me, this research project was a perfect balance between being fitted to my prior experience and interests and challenging me to expand my interests and stretch my abilities. My primary research interest is in the cellular and molecular basis of neurodegenerative diseases, and I had prior experience working with Drosophila from the research I had done at my home university, the University of Washington in Seattle. My experience in the McCabe laboratory built on each of these by allowing me to use new methods and techniques – including Drosphila brain dissections and confocal microscopy – while acquainting me with research of neuronal circuits and synaptic transmission and with the use of complex and innovative genetic tools. In addition to growing as a researcher by gaining laboratory skills, I also grew in my knowledge of working in scientific research through the connections I made with the members of the McCabe laboratory. I was very fortunate to have a fantastic postdoctoral supervisor, Dr. Jamshid Asadzadeh, who guided me in my work on my research project. Dr. McCabe, Dr. Asadzadeh, and all the other members of the McCabe group were very welcoming to me and were always eager to share about their experiences in research, to teach me new things, and to hear about my thoughts and experiences. The connections I made with my fellow laboratory members as well as the friendships I made with other students who were in the EPFL School of Life Sciences Summer Research Program helped me to feel a great sense of community for the entirety of my time in Switzerland. Presently, I am back in Seattle pursuing my Bachelor of Science in neurobiology and biochemistry at the University of Washington. The experience I had this summer has inspired me and equipped me to pursue laboratory research with even greater depth and fervor. I am incredibly thankful to all of the members of the McCabe laboratory, to the coordinators of the EPFL Summer Research Program, and to ThinkSwiss for making this experience possible.
Sedona Ewbank
