I was given the amazing opportunity to intern with Dr Renata Jurkowska within her lung epigenetics group lab at Cardiff University, which was made possible through the British Association of Lung Research (BALR) summer internship program.
During my internship, I was able to perform research into chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), specifically looking at epigenetic markers associated with its onset and progression. In response to environmental factors that cause diseases such as smoking, chemical groups that regulate our DNA expression can be altered, causing changes in how our cells function within the body. Dr Jurkowska’s lab had previously identified epigenetic markers that are altered in COPD. These epigenetic alterations have the potential to be used for early disease detection, which was the focus of my internship project. I focused on investigating the potential of epigenetic marks for the sensitive detection of COPD through performing DNA methylation sequencing on patient cells at varying stages of COPD development.
COPD is a life-limiting and currently incurable disease where patients experience a progressive decline in lung function due to damage to their lung tissue. Unfortunately, there are also no current early biomarkers that can identify and predict who will develop COPD and progress to the severe form of the disease. The data I collected within this project has the potential to benefit not only the scientific community but also provide a potential diagnostic marker for COPD.
Being able to analyze DNA methylation sequencing within patient samples was a skill I was passionate about developing as epigenetics is a specialty I am extremely excited to progress in. In addition to methylation sequencing, I also gained skills in human tissue handling and cell culture with explanting fibroblasts from patient samples. The field of epigenetics was a specialty I was already interested in; however, this internship has sparked my passion for the field of lung research, especially focusing on diagnostics to improve the lives of the ~10% of the population worldwide suffering from COPD.
The BALR internship allowed me to plan my own experiments and conduct them with a sense of importance, as the data I was producing has the potential to be applied to future publications. Due to COVID-19 I was unable to strongly develop wet lab skills during my undergrad, this internship provided me with more time to develop a wider range of skills which I would not have been exposed to; which is another reason why I am grateful for the experience I gained throughout the summer.
Moreover, during the summer I was able to work independently and collaboratively with other PhD students within the lab, providing a glimpse of a future in research. Through this
internship, my passion for research has been solidified and I will certainly continue my development through a PhD in the future.
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