A Step Into the Scientific World

Wendy Lee is a junior majoring in Biology. She was awarded a Fall 2017 Conference Grant which she used to attend the 2017 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students.

As my first research conference, ABRCMS 2017 in Phoenix, Arizona, has provided me with an eye-opening and career-launching experience. In contrast to the only research presentation experience I’ve had, which was a small-scale poster symposium at the end of the SURE program at Emory last summer, the ABRCMS biomedical research conference gathers undergraduates, graduates, post-docs, and medical professionals for a 4-day intensive workshop with hundreds of poster presentations occurring concurrently. The wide variety of scientific disciplines, including engineering, chemistry, psychology, etc., provided me an opportunity to be exposed to the current advancements and recent research in the fields that I am unfamiliar with. Through the conference, I was also able to meet scientists who are also studying RNA binding proteins. For instance, I met a medical scientist from the University of Michigan at the phone charging station, and we had an extended conversation about how to further study a specific poly-A RNA binding protein family in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders with different techniques. He also provided me with his first-hand experience of the M.D/Ph.D track, defining the goals and the outcomes and results of this career path. Our conversation even extended to nutrition and disease, as his clinical practice deals with ALS and dementia patients who would require extensive nutritional care. I’ve never been adept in networking, but with this pleasant exchange, I suppose networking wasn’t that difficult after all. 


In addition to random encounters with intelligent researchers, there were many formal networking and professional development workshops to help graduate students and PIs become better mentors, to help students build portfolios, and to help students identify potential career paths and prepare for MD/PhD program or graduate programs in the sciences. With these workshops and panels, I was able to voice my questions directly to and receive responses from multiple perspectives and help me make my own decisions. The graduate students and post-docs at the conference shared their personal experience of deciding to pursue science as a career, applying to graduate school, picking a lab, and pushing through the difficult times in science with grit and resilience. The best part about these small workshops is the opportunity to meet like-minded people in such a massive venue who understands the excitement when science finally works for a fleeting moment and empathizes with your misery of continuous failure.

I felt nervous prior to presenting my poster because there were many experts in my field on the forefront of research in genetics and cellular biology judging my poster. However, the scientists I’ve met have debunked my myth about mean serious scientists who try to outwit anybody with their research. I had an audience member who was also using Drosophila as a model system, and she complimented the quality of the eye images I took and asked me my methods and setup. There were also scientists who provided me insight into the potential experiments and methods to answer my hypothesis more thoroughly. The most fascinating encounter during the presentation session was my conversation with the scientist who found the gene that causes X fragile syndrome. He shared the story of his discovery and his current work in RNA binding proteins, which are crucial to many genetic disorders in the nervous system. I was in awe of the passion and the curiosity of the scientists and student researchers I’ve met, and when I felt the fire kindle within me when people shared their research and gave comments about how I could advance my research, I realized that research would certainly become a part of my future career. 

ABCRMS provides a platform for underrepresented scientists to voice their thoughts and empower them through intellectual stimulation and scholarly exchange. The experience at a national science research conference provides me with a clear picture of the current efforts in the sciences as well as the vast opportunities that lies ahead of a scientific career. Wining a presentation award also provides reassurance that maybe science and research is destined to be part of my career trajectory. This meeting provides sense of assurance that the doubts, concerns, worries, and failures are all valid and ubiquitous among undergraduate students, and even graduate students who are already in the real science world. This experience giving a poster presentation is not only a direct advancement of my career in the sciences, whether it may be as a full-time researcher, medical scientist, or a physician, but it also serves as a reminder of my initial excitement and passion for scientific discoveries. I have definitely returned as a better speaker, more sociable person, and a more curious undergraduate research who is eager to find out the details about something that may be insignificant to the general populace, but highly treasured in the scientific world.

Visit the Undergraduate Research Programs website to learn more about applying for Conference Grants.