By Delaney McLinden '18
This summer, three Trinity Prep seniors participated in Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute's internship program at Lake Nona. Students Kathleen Garvey, Rakhi Mira Patel, and Prianca Nagda spent the summer under the wing of medical professionals and experienced working in the medical research field.
"It was a really great experience that enhanced a lot of the material I've learned in class," said Nagda, who studied under Dr. Xianlin Han, a specialist in lipidomics. Nagda and her mentor focused on investigating the biochemical mechanisms underlying altered lipid and protein levels in Alzheimer's disease patients and researching the early hallmarks of other neurodegenerative diseases.
Kathleen Garvey worked with Dr. Peter A. Crawford, a current parent at Trinity Prep, on cardiovascular metabolism. "Our environment can be challenging, even for the most distinguished high school students, because of the sophisticated activities we perform. These challenges were no deterrent to Kathleen Garvey," Dr. Crawford said. "Including my time as faculty at Washington University St. Louis, Kathleen was among the very few hardest working high school students I have hosted in my group, was a voracious learner, and was unusually eager to accomplish goals that she set for herself. These assets are critical attributes for success in biomedical science - and in life!"
Students had the opportunity to learn and participate in performing and observing hands-on lab protocols which included culturing cells, PCR, western blots, as well as working with mice models.
"Interning at SBP Medical Discovery Institute was an amazing experience, and I had a lot of fun," said Patel, who worked under Dr. Lazlo Nagy and Dr. Matthew Peloquin on the genomic control of metabolism. "I got to work in the lab with a lot of really interesting people from all over the world. I learned so much!"
