Recent high school graduate Shannoy Fraser spent two months at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland participating in a competitive internship researching pancreatic cancer tumors.
She wrapped up her internship by presenting her research: Evaluating the response of tumor endothelial cells to interferon gamma in ex vivo model of PDAC.
First, she presented her poster—and won an award for having one of the best posters in her internship!
Next, she gave her oral presentation to a room of scholars, professors, interns, and medical professionals. After a summer of learning, research, and discovery, this presentation was the culmination of so much hard work.
Meanwhile, here in Connecticut, a group of Shannoy’s friends from the HNH LEADS program gathered at Hall Neighborhood House to watch a livestream of her presentation and cheer her on from afar!
Now, Shannoy is getting ready for her next big adventure: beginning her freshman year at Wesleyan University, where she plans to study neuroscience with plans to attend medical school.
We are so proud of everything she accomplished this summer, and we cannot wait to continue celebrating her future successes!
Special thanks to Hall supporter Jeff Winter and Dr. Jonathan Brody, Ph.D. Professor & Vice Chair, Research, Dept. of Surgery, Associate Director, Translational Research, BCCPC at the STEMPrep-OHSU Internship Program at Oregon Health & Science University for sharing this amazing opportunity and working with Hall to get Shannoy into this exciting program.
Summer is drawing to a close, and Shannoy is finishing up her time in Portland. She shared a few highlights from the past couple of weeks, and we cannot wait to see a recap of her final presentation!
While I was shadowing in the OR, I was invited to a dinner with a group of physicians, people who work in the biotech industry, and scientists. Throughout the dinner, I got to learn more about what they do and ask questions about the MD route, because that’s what I’m interested in. It was so cool to hear their stories and see their pathways to get there. I like seeing how their stories are similar to how my story is unfolding. I got to learn a lot of new stuff, because I’ve never really researched much about working in the biotech industry. It was very interesting.
We had a career roundtable where I got to speak with different professionals, ranging from scientists, to someone who has an MD-PhD, to someone who took the MD route, to people who work in the biotech industry. It was pretty interesting to have these conversations with individuals who have been through the experience. It is really mind-blowing, and it makes me realize that if they have done it, then I can also do it.
On that same day, I met someone who is going to Wesleyan with me in the fall! What a small world it is! I had a great time getting to chat with someone who’s going to be taking the same route with me, starting college in the fall.
With my internship, we had a barbecue. It was hosted at one of the directors’ houses, and the food was great. I really enjoyed it. We played card games, which was pretty fun. And I like that as we come closer to the end of my internship, I still have opportunities to bond with my fellow interns.
In the lab, I’ve primarily been doing immunofluorescence staining, which is when I’m adding different antibodies to tumor slices to look for particular reactions. When we add the antibodies, it has a fluorophore, meaning that it will reflect light and create a color. So if I add this antibody that has fluorophore, if the tumor slice is present for CD31, for example, which is endothelial cells, I can see it through the microscope by the color that I added the antibody.
I’m preparing for my oral presentation and the poster ceremony that we’re going to have. Everything is pretty interesting as I’m closing toward the end. I’m having a good time, and I’m very excited to enjoy my last weeks of this program.
This summer, recent high school graduate Shannoy Fraser is spending two months at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland participating in a competitive internship researching pancreatic cancer tumors.
Special thanks to Hall supporter Jeff Winter and Dr. Jonathan Brody, Ph.D. Professor & Vice Chair, Research, Dept. of Surgery, Associate Director, Translational Research, BCCPC at the STEMPrep-OHSU Internship Program at Oregon Health & Science University for sharing this amazing opportunity and working with Hall to get Shannoy into this exciting program.
Throughout the summer, Shannoy is sharing thoughts about her experiences both in and out of the lab on Hall’s blog and social media channels. Follow along with her journey on our Instagram and website this summer as she takes the next steps toward a future in medicine and research.
I saw how subcutaneous tumors are harvested from mice. Subcutaneous tumors are tumors that form under the skin, and through my mentor, I was able to see how they’re harvested (how they extract them from the mice). I felt a little sad that the mice died, but it’s very important that we have these tumors to study the disease.
This research can help advance treatment for PDAC, which is the deadliest form of pancreatic cancer.
Aside from that, I’ve been doing independent work, and I’ve been doing a form of microscopy called immunofluorescence, where different antigens are added to the tumors. These antigens produce a light so that the tumors glow in the dark, which helps us identify different structures within the tumor.
It’s been going great, the images have been good, and I’m enjoying learning how to do it.
This summer, recent high school graduate Shannoy Fraser is spending two months at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland participating in a competitive internship researching pancreatic cancer tumors.
Special thanks to Hall supporter Jeff Winter and Dr. Jonathan Brody, Ph.D. Professor & Vice Chair, Research, Dept. of Surgery, Associate Director, Translational Research, BCCPC at the STEMPrep-OHSU Internship Program at Oregon Health & Science University for sharing this amazing opportunity and working with Hall to get Shannoy into this exciting program.
Throughout the summer, Shannoy is sharing thoughts about her experiences both in and out of the lab on Hall’s blog and social media channels. Follow along with her journey on our Instagram and website this summer as she takes the next steps toward a future in medicine and research.
Since I’ve been here, I feel like I have changed in some ways, especially because I’ve never done research in this manner before. Everything that I’ve been exposed to is pretty new, and I feel like that’s the change.
There has been an increase in my knowledge about how to conduct research about the particular topic that I’m focusing on for my project, which is pancreatic cancer, specifically pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. And I’ve really learned a lot from my PI, from my mentors, and the other people that are in my lab.
Also, getting the opportunity to shadow in the clinic and in the OR, I’ve really broadened my perspective about how to approach medicine. Previously, I always felt intimidated by surgery. But interacting with doctors and actually being able to see a surgery happening live has cleared up any misconceptions that I felt. It’s very interesting to hear about doctors’ journeys to medical school and towards their professions, so I’m really grateful for that opportunity.
As I navigate my lab experience, I’m learning that things that I thought were hard, I just need to practice. It’s okay to fail, because not all experiments will be successful. And that’s such an important thing to know, that even though your experiment did not succeed, you can still figure out what went wrong and what factors contributed to your experiment not being successful.
This experience has also really given me insight as I consider whether I want to pursue an MD, a PhD, or both. It’s been so important to hear people’s stories because it makes me realize that if they can do it, I might be able to, too. So it’s just really helping me to understand that some things might seem impossible, but you never know until you try.
It’s really mind-blowing to see that I just got out of high school and I’m participating in a PhD-level lab. Overall, I’m so grateful for this opportunity, and I just hope to use the lab skills that I’ve learned and the information that I’ve absorbed about approaching graduate school and college in general as stepping stones for my future career.
This summer, recent high school graduate Shannoy Fraser is spending two months at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland participating in a competitive internship researching pancreatic cancer tumors.
Special thanks to Hall supporter Jeff Winter and Dr. Jonathan Brody, Ph.D. Professor & Vice Chair, Research, Dept. of Surgery, Associate Director, Translational Research, BCCPC at the STEMPrep-OHSU Internship Program at Oregon Health & Science University for sharing this amazing opportunity and working with Hall to get Shannoy into this exciting program.
Throughout the summer, Shannoy is sharing thoughts about her experiences both in and out of the lab on Hall’s blog and social media channels. Follow along with her journey on our Instagram and website this summer as she takes the next steps toward a future in medicine and research.
This summer, recent high school graduate Shannoy Fraser is spending two months at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland participating in a competitive internship researching pancreatic cancer tumors.
Special thanks to Hall supporter Jeff Winter and Dr. Jonathan Brody, Ph.D. Professor & Vice Chair, Research, Dept. of Surgery, Associate Director, Translational Research, BCCPC at the STEMPrep-OHSU Internship Program at Oregon Health & Science University for sharing this amazing opportunity and working with Hall to get Shannoy into this exciting program.
Throughout the summer, Shannoy is sharing thoughts about her experiences both in and out of the lab on Hall’s blog and social media channels. Follow along as she shares her stories and reflections—including these thoughts on her first week in Oregon!
The night before the first day in the lab —
I’m very excited about going to Oregon Health and Science University, and I’m most interested in completing the lab. I’ve done lab work before, but I haven’t done really professional lab work, so that’s something new that I’m thinking about.
This opportunity is definitely a big deal for me, especially because I want to go to medical school, and I feel like this opportunity will shape my undergraduate years that are upcoming. Aside from that, throughout this summer, I want to learn more about the lab that I’m working with. I know that I’m supposed to be working with, um, the pancreatic cells of rats, so that’s definitely gonna be interesting. And I am afraid of rats, so I am gonna be out of my comfort zone! But overall, I feel like everything will work out in the end.
I feel like everyone that I’ve met so far has been very kind and welcoming, so I’m not stressing about anything. I’m just ready to jump into all that I have to do!
Internship Day 2 —
A small win that I had today: I took the tram by myself for the first time, and I also went to the grocery store! I felt really good about it because I’ve never really done a lot of traveling by myself. And then I felt great because I actually followed my GPS, and I reached my destination safe and sound. I also took a walk around Portland State University, and I liked the scenery. I liked how green everything was. Overall, it feels great doing stuff by myself. It makes me feel like, I guess, a real adult. Everything’s going great so far.
Internship Day 3 —
Today is day 5 in Oregon, and it’s also day 3 of my internship. I’ve been outlining what I’m working on, and I’m going to be working with pancreatic cells from mice. I haven’t conducted the lab yet; so far, I’m just outlining what I have to do.
Today I saw one especially cool thing. We were working with the mice, and I saw them getting injected with the tumor cells. I found that very interesting. They were kind of cute, and I felt bad, but you have to do what you have to do. And it was a very quick process.
We knocked out the mice with anesthesia and shaved the areas where the injection would be administered. Today, about 20 mice were injected with the tumor cells.
Next, we’ll observe the tumor as it grows, and eventually, the tumor will be harvested from under the skin. Tomorrow, we’ll learn how to inject the cells directly into the pancreas using an ultrasound—I’m looking forward to observing that. It’s all very interesting so far, and I’m looking forward to actually being able to contribute something to the lab.
Internship Day 8 —
I got to see orthotopic injections in the mice, where the tumor was directly injected into their pancreas using ultrasound.
Outside of the lab, our group went on a cruise, and it was very fun to see Portland and get to know a bit more about the other interns. This was our first trip and we hadn’t all interacted with one another yet. I also went to the mall because I’m trying to explore Portland more instead of staying home.
Overall, I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve been working on my project. I also just learned how to stain the tumor cells, so that’s something that I’ll continue to work with.
Follow along with her journey on our Instagram and website this summer as she takes the next steps toward a future in medicine and research.
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