Researchers of Emory

It’s a sunny Friday afternoon on Emory University’s campus, and, according to juniors Jose Acevedo and Deston Lian, “it’s a perfect day to do some research!”. Both Jose and Deston are experienced undergraduate researchers, working in various fields on campus: Jose works in the Sanchez Lab, at the Emory National Primate Research Center, while Deston works in the Department of Chemistry, under Dr. Dennis Liotta. Both, however, share a common passion in producing, as Deston puts it, “meaningful findings that contribute positively to the world”. In asking Deston about his “why” behind research, he proclaims: “it allows me to feel a great satisfaction, knowing that I am pursuing my own passions, all while learning more about the subject that I love and producing results that could change the lives of others”.   In brainstorming the topic for this blog, I decided to settle on a topic that most undergraduates seem to disregard: the true enjoyment, reward, and fun that can come from resear...

Adelaide Rosene (she/her/hers) is a history major concentrating in law, economics and human rights and is minoring in English. Her main research interests are in 20th century American history, but her current research position involves 16th century naturalists and early understandings of natural philosophy and history.   She first explored historical research her sophomore year through a History Department class with Dr. Judith Miller called Music and Politics. This class helped her develop practical research skills that she applied in her internship as a Manuscript Archives Intern at the Atlanta History Center. At the AHC she had the opportunity to participate in the John Burrison Folklore Project, and write metadata content for the History Center's databases. “I became involved in my current research by developing a relationship with my professors in their religion course Nature, Sacred, and I encourage students to remember there is no one right way to explore research opportunit...

  Katelyn King is a senior at Emory’s College of Arts and Sciences, majoring in Biology and minoring in Global Health, Culture & Society. Her research area is on c ancer biology, and she investigates the effects of knocking out anti-apoptotic genes on drug efficacy in multiple myeloma.   Her collegiate research journey started the summer after her first year. She was accepted into the NIH-NIDDK Short-Term Research Experience for Underrepresented Persons (STEP-UP) program and was tasked with finding a mentor. She reached out to Oxford Professor Dr. Taliaferro-Smith because SHE was interested in her triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) research. After a brief informational interview, Dr. Taliaferro-Smith invited Katelyn to join her lab! During the 10-week program, SHE studied the effects of genetic modifications in TNBC. She offered to continue her position on the project throughout the academic year as an Oxford Research Scholar. She has since had the opportunity to con...