I became an honors research associate at City College in January 2010. I work in a neuroscience laboratory with Dr. Jay Edelman. My current project examines the effect visual instructions have on express saccades (short, jerky eye movements made in response to an auditory or visual stimulus). Last week I had the pleasure of traveling to Charlotte, NC to give a poster presentation on my project at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS).While this was my first time at a national research conference, I can confidently say that it was amazing! I presented early in the week which was great because it allowed me to enjoy the rest of the conference's program without worry. Presenting was an adventure all its own. The night before my presentation other students and I gathered in the hotel room and practiced. The next day I set up my poster and waited patiently for conference attendees to swarm the exhibit hall. It did not take long before high school, college and graduate students asked me about my work. It felt so great to be able to speak confidently about my work and share with others what I have learned in the lab!
While my poster presentation was a personal conference highlight, every day welcomed keynote speakers and lecturers that sparked everyone's interest and enthusiasm. Here are just a few of the great minds that presented at the conference: Dr. Irene Pepperberg from Harvard University discussed communicative abilities of gray parrots; MacArthur "Genius" fellow Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi discussed imaging the glycome with bioorthogonal chemistry; City College's very own Dr. Jerry Guyden discussed thymic nurse cells; Johns Hopkins' Dr. Lisa Cooper discussed the doctor-patient relationship and its role in health disparities; Dr. Francis Collins, Director of NIH, discussed opportunities in biomedical research.
Dr. Jerry Guyden
There were two presentations I especially enjoyed. Hayden Planetarium Director, Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson's presentation about the universe was interesting. With humor and poise, Dr. Tyson touched on everything from life on Mars to black holes; from the rings of saturn to dark energy. Dr. Tyson wonderfully makes astrophysics and astronomy accessible to the public. Last, but certainly not least, Dr. Maya Angelou spoke with us and stressed the importance of scientists embracing the arts! In addition to all of this, the conference hosted a three-day exhibition/recruitment fair featuring dozens of graduate programs, medical schools and research institutions; each day was also studded with various professional development workshops.
ABRCMS celebrated its tenth anniversary and truly did so with a bang. Over 3,000 participants registered for the conference and over 1,000 students presented. I personally celebrated my first research endevour, and I am so excited to continue to pursue research! ABRCMS featured distinguished guest speakers, an extensive recruitment fair, useful professional development workshops and allowed the "nerds of color," (as one keynote speaker joked) to gather and exchange ideas. I told you it was amazing!
Dr. Maya Angelou
