Research Biographies

Nickalus Khan, NIH Summer Program

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I worked over the summer in the Surgery Trauma Research Lab under Dr. Fabian. Specifically, I worked with developing a pharmacologic treatment for patients with pulmonary contusions. My work involved animal models (rats), working with different laboratory techniques (ELISA), and performing minor surgery on animal models.

I felt that having the opportunity to be able to think of ways to solve problems was very interesting in my research over the summer. I was presented with the basic problem and asked to research different methods of solving it. I had onsite training in many different scientific areas and had to teach myself some techniques to analyze the data we collected. Overall I was very pleased with my work over the summer and the experience in the area of clinical research.

Myself, Dr. Sharpe (AKA Lougle), and John Angotti (aka The Weatherman) Myself, Dr. Sharpe (AKA Lougle), and John Angotti (aka The Weatherman)

I applied very early to the program and personally proactively sought out a mentor that I would want to work with. I feel that having a good mentor that matches the goals that you are trying to accomplish over the summer is crucial. I felt that working with the people that I did in the lab over the summer was just as much a part of the experience than any other of the scientific aspects. Having one to one interaction with people working in the lab and learning from their experience gives you a whole new outlook on medicine.

A lot of the time in medical school we are bombarded with huge amounts of information to learn and we rarely have the time to think creatively ourselves. Research, I feel, allowed me to take a break from learning what has already been done and use some time to think of what can be done.