Currently, I am a third-year medical student at the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. I have been involved in endocrinology research since my master's studies at the University of Michigan where our main focus is translational adrenal research. Specifically, I’ve been involved with RNA sequencing of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded human adrenal tumor tissues as well as the study of comparisons between RNA expression in mouse adrenal tissues and human adrenal samples. During my time as a medical student, I continued this research in the Research Experiences for Graduate and Medical Students program through the Endocrine Society.
What is your favorite Endocrine Society memory?
My favorite Endocrine Society memory is being involved in the Research Experiences for Graduate and Medical Students program. I learned so much about mentorship and career development, as well as advancing my knowledge of scientific writing and presentations. The staff was very generous in providing opportunities for questions and I felt like they really cared about giving us an opportunity to shine and learn about career growth.
How has Endocrine Society supported your professional development/career journey?
The Endocrine Society has provided the opportunity to develop research goals and achieve them through mentorship by other society members. The REGMS program was the perfect space to build knowledge of academic medicine and how to grow in this area. I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in this program as a medical student because I feel like I have a strong foundation before I start residency and eventually practice medicine as a physician.
What experience led you to the study of the endocrine system?
As a student, I’ve found endocrine research to be challenging due to the many organ systems impacted by an individual endocrine hormone. At the same time, this global effect of a single endocrine organ provides many areas of study and a multitude of interesting findings from one project. It also highlights the necessity of endocrine research in understanding whole-body responses to pathology.
What is the best thing about what you are working on right now?
The best thing about my research right now is learning new ways of analyzing RNA sequencing data and drawing comparisons between animal model samples and human samples that are widely available publicly. The ease at which researchers can access and use this raw data stored online will increase access to many researchers around the world and ultimately advance scientific understanding.
If the Endocrine Society could add one benefit, what would it be?
For students, presentations about mentorship are few and far between. If some of the presentations like those given during the REGMS program about mentorship were more widely available, students would have the opportunity to build their knowledge of what steps they can take to advance their careers and be successful in academic medicine. Overall, this would increase the amount of research and development in the field of endocrinology, advancing the field's understanding.
