Explore New Interests at Carolina

Carolina students go on to do some pretty amazing things after spending four years with us. Last up in our short series of senior stories is Sarb...

When I came to Carolina, I was mainly focused on academics and research with a few hours reserved each week to cheer on our world-class sports teams. The one commitment I had that wasn’t purely academic was Admissions Ambassadors, which I joined to improve my public speaking skills in hopes of delivering better academic presentations. Ironically, it was my fellow Ambassadors who inspired me to break out of my academic shell and experience all that Carolina has to offer.

While listening to other Ambassadors’ service experiences, I was amazed at the scope and impact of their commitment to their respective causes. Their passion and enthusiasm opened my eyes to the many opportunities available at Carolina and helped me realize that developing other interests could only help my research and academics. I began to tutor and volunteer at area hospitals and with my friends’ service organizations. I’m now a Buckley Public Service Scholar and a Carolina Research Scholar, and I recently completed a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship. Each of these rich experiences helped me earn admission into the School of Medicine at the University of Virgina, where I will begin studying in the fall.

If you haven't yet enrolled, the deadline to do so is tomorrow at 11:59 PM ET! Remember that you can enroll electronically through MyCarolina.

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Celebrating 14 Years of Undergraduate Research - Part II

Today, we'll hear again from sophomore Frank Wu, who recently visited the annual Carolina Undergraduate Research Symposium.

With more than 60% of undergraduates conducting research, you never know what exciting projects your peers may be doing. Below please find my interview with Michele Bresler, who is doing research on mouse intestine cell fission, and Jason Dunn, who is researching unemployment and obesity.

Michele, can you summarize your project?

The intestinal epithelium is one of the most rapidly turning over tissues in the body which makes it very vulnerable to chemotherapy drugs. My research was to isolate the intestinal stem cells which are responsible for replenishing the intestinal tissue after damage and create a culture condition where these cells can survive but not continue to proliferate. Once these conditions were set, we are able to manipulate the cells to discover a trigger for the cell fission in the hopes of finding a drug that can be given to chemotherapy patients to increase the rate of cell fission and the rate of tissue replenishing in the intestine after damage.

What did you learn?

I've learned an immense amount of laboratory skills and techniques that I would have never had the chance to do if I had not decided to pursue research. I even learned to remove the small intestine from a mouse! Besides the laboratory based skills, I've been able to improve my science writing and reading skills through having to read numerous scientific journal articles and write articles and presentations myself.


What connections did you make?

Through my research lab I have been able to form connections  with the doctors, PhDs, medical students, graduate students, and professors that work in my lab and the labs that surround us. Research is very collaborative and I have had the opportunity to work closely with some of the best stem cell researchers in the field.



Do you have advice for other students wanting to do research?

My advice for anyone who is wanting to do research is to take your time picking a place that you want to work in. There are so many opportunities to do research here at Carolina so don't rush into the first opportunity you find. Make sure that the research you decide to pursue is something that you are really passionate about so you are able to dedicate the right amount of time and enjoy what you are doing!

Jason, is there a correlation between unemployment and obesity? What did your research reveal?

I found some interesting relationships between unemployment and obesity, but to draw more conclusions, I would really need to have more information on how individuals spend their time and what they are eating. One interesting insight was finding that after at least three years of unemployment, white individuals gain weight while black individuals lose weight. However, that result was only significant for males.

You mentioned that our faculty was very supportive of your work.
Professor Gilleskie helped guide me through the process of developing my thesis topic, and she was instrumental in helping me figure out how to develop a model to test, determine the regressions, analyze the results, and write up my findings. I met with her weekly to work one on one on my project to ensure that the research was sound and that I met my goal.

Celebrating 14 Years of Undergraduate Research at Carolina - Part I

This week we'll hear from sophomore Frank Wu, who visited the annual Carolina Undergraduate Research Symposium last Friday.

With more than 60% of undergraduates conducting research, the symposium was in its 14th year this past week. Most importantly, the symposium brings together undergraduate of all backgrounds and majors. In my case, I was able to participate in research on income inequality during my first year, but I really enjoyed attending to symposium and learning more about the other kinds of undergraduate research going on at Carolina.

From projects such as Spanish phonology, the relationships between obesity and unemployment and wound healing, Carolina offers the opportunity for undergraduates to engage in research across all disciplines—the arts/humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.

Not only was I able to see the research from my peers, I started some valuable conversations on their research and how we can utilize their research to make a difference in the world—a common goal for all Carolina students. In addition, I ran into quite a few friends doing research I had never expected. It was great hearing about the time they spent on these projects and the experience they’ve gained through them. As a result, I’ve sincerely been inspired to conduct further research myself, and hopefully write a senior thesis down the road!

One of the students I met during the symposium is Anand Shah, who is doing research on wound healing. I took the opportunity to ask him a few questions.

As part of your project, you synthesized a chemical that produces nitrous oxide, which has positive medical effects. Can you tell us a little bit more about that? 

For my research, I synthesized nitric oxide-releasing scaffolds. The goal of my project was to see the nitric oxide-releasing scaffolds' effect on cell proliferation and migration. Both of these abilities are vital in the wound healing process so now that I have confirmed the enhancing effect these scaffolds have on cell proliferation and migration, I am looking to test the effects in vivo. This will hopefully result in a faster wound healing process.

How did you get started doing research?

I became involved in research the summer after my first year. My path to involvement started in my Chem 241H class where Dr. Tiani had each student in the class interview an analytical researcher here at UNC. I was assigned to interview Dr. Schoenfisch and after looking into the research he was involved in, I found the projects interesting and decided to ask if he had any open positions. Luckily he did have a couple of spots open as seniors were graduating.

Do you have any advice for other students who want to do undergraduate research? 

To first-year students I would recommend looking into a department they are interested in and then look at what professors in that department are involved in. With this list of professors students should try to stop by during their office hours or send them an email explaining their interest. From personal experience I have found how professors here are very interested in helping out students and even if they don't have an open spot they can easily recommend colleagues of theirs who do.

Stay tuned for another blog entry from Frank -- Undergraduate Research Part II!