Researcher of the Week: Joel Tyson

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 08:19:54 -0400
biochemical, engineering, hopkins, internship, johns, mid-atlantic, nanobiotechnology, nanotechnology, program, summer, university

Meet Joel,

He is a Biochemical Engineering major and student researcher for Johns Hopkins University's Institute for Nanobiotechnology summer internship. He worked in the Neurodegeneration lab of Dr. Ted Dawson in the Hopkins Medical School's Institute of Cell Engineering. His research used a novel approach to measuring the endocytosis of pathological α-synuclien- a process known as a cause of Parkinson's Disease. These measurements allowed the mapping of the functional domains in a receptor thought to be central to Parkinson's pathology.

Last summer he participated in several research labs as part of the Mid-Atlantic Summer Nanotechnology Internship Program. He contributed to projects using nanoparticles, nanoelectrodes, and self-assembled monolayers in biological applications.

Joel is in the Honor's College and participates in D.I.Y. research in synthetic biology at the Baltimore Underground Science Space year-round. In his spare time, he composes music.

His future plans are to gain experience in tissue engineering and pursue a PhD in Biomedical Engineering with a focus on neurology.

How did you find out about this opportunity? Was there a formal application process?

The opportunity was posted by Professor Laura LeMire at CCBC. There was a formal application including a reference and transcript along with an interview with UMBC professors.

Who did you work with on this project?

There were three principal investigators to whom I addressed questions and from whom I got initial direction: Dr. Marie-Christine Daniel-Onuta and Dr. Ryan White at UMBC and Dr Mark Griep at ARL. I worked most closely with UMBC chemistry graduate students Brian Szychowski, Lauren Schoukroun Barnes, and Florika Macazo; UMBC postgrad Dr. Juan Liu and ARL engineer Travis Tumlin. I also had partners from CCBC in each rotation: Shane Folk, Jennifer Betley and Hinesh Padhiar. Dr. Paul Smith and Dr. Stephen Mang also taught several classes and discussions about nanoscience and science in general. I am incredibly grateful for the time and knowledge given to me by all these great minds.

Was this your first research experience?

I had been participating in the Baltimore Underground Science Space, a community lab, for several months before this, working under the guidance of Dr. Thomas Burkett.

Do you get course credit for this work or get paid? How much time do you put into it?

This internship was fantastically funded by the NSF, so we were paid. I averaged 35-40 hours a week.

What academic background did you have before you started?

I had completed one year at CCBC which included classes in biology, engineering, math and chemistry.

How did you learn what you needed to know to be successful in this summer project?

I did a lot of reading. I read papers from the labs I worked in, as well as papers that may have informed the current work of the lab. I also did a fair amount of reading online and in hardcopy textbooks to get up to speed on subjects like organic chemistry, electrochemistry and nanotechnology.

What has been the hardest part about your work this summer?

The hardest part was keeping my head above water when integrating so many different subjects: biology, physics, engineering, and chemistry. For me, once the fields being dealt with are complex enough to touch on quantum mechanics (as is the case with nanotechnology) it’s easy for me to misunderstand. Figuring out what is useful when applied to different subjects is relatively challenging.

What was the most unexpected thing?

The most unexpected thing was the slow pace. To do cutting edge science correctly takes a lot of patience.

How does this research experience relate to your course work?

In one sense I used concepts learned in my course work every day, so applying course work was integral to an understanding of regular procedures and directions. However, there is a level of deep inquiry that just can’t be addressed by lower level course work. In that sense it’s not related to coursework at all because all research has an unknown ending.

What is your advice to other students about getting involved in research?

Research facilities and projects are a great way to break out of the lecture-exam (lecture-exam, lecture-exam...) cycle and feel like you’re contributing something. It can take some real patience and persistence to delve deeply, but that can be said of anything that is worthwhile. And maybe research or laboratories are not for you, but it’s pretty hard to know that unless you try it out.

What are your career goals?

I am interested in working in the intersection of human biology and technology, especially in relation neurology, but I am excited about all fields of biomedical engineering.

What else are you involved in on campus?

I will be attending UMBC for the first time in the fall as a transfer student. I am not sure what I will be involved in yet, but I plan to be tutoring in some capacity.

Read more about his research here...