Rohit Dasgupta
Student Council
Johns Hopkins University
As I grew up and learned about different types of phenomena in my classes, I often wondered about how things worked, asking questions that began with “what if?” It was during middle school that my chemistry teacher suggested conducting an experiment to test out one of these hypotheses – the rate of digestion of different foods in the small intestine. Recreating the acidic conditions in the stomach using diluted hydrochloric acid, I examined how quickly different types of foods degraded in the stomach.
Those middle school experiments instilled a fascination about the process of research. Research gave me the ability to confirm the theory in textbooks by doing experiments and “getting my hands dirty.” Since middle school, I participated in many more research experiences. One of these research experiences was this past summer at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
I had initially learned about the cells involved when a person gets sick in one of my science classes sophomore year. This summer, we tested out this theory by doing experiments in lab. We were investigating the co-localization of certain receptors involved in the immune response. The project involved extracting T-cells and dendritic cells from mice, and examining their locations during the immune response using confocal microscopy. The research was fascinating because it offered me the opportunity to apply what I knew to potentially reach new conclusions about how the immune system worked. Ultimately the research aimed to elucidate the mechanism of a certain receptor that was known to cause immune deficiencies in young children – if the actions of the receptor-ligand interaction was better understood, more directed therapies to treat these deficiencies could be developed.
If you are a high school student or undergraduate in college interested in research – whether in the applied sciences or in the humanities – there are ample opportunities available to conduct research as a student. For high school students, a good way to get experience is to contact professors in a local university for a summer research internship. For college students, there are a plethora of summer research opportunities available, especially through the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates program, which are 10 week programs offered at universities across the US. Conducting research in a lab provides you with the chance to learn from others around you while working on a meaningful problem that has the potential to effect a change in the community.
Pictured above: Rohit standing in front of the iconic Hoover Tower, which is located at the center of the Stanford University campus. Rohit Dasgupta is a senior at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, majoring in Biomedical Engineering and plans to pursue joint MD/PhD degrees upon graduating. He is a 2008 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, VA. A member of NSHSS since 2007.