Name: Jiyer Iyer
Class Year: 2027
Major: Biology
Minor: Spanish
 
Internship Organization: Drexel University College of Medicine
Internship Title:   Drexel Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, SURF Fellow
Location: Philadelphia, PA

What’s happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!  

Western blotting

This summer, I have been interning at Drexel College of Medicine through the Drexel Summer Undergraduate Fellowship program in a lab studying Parkinson’s disease. I have learned so much about scientific research, including techniques for cell culture, quantifying protein expression and western blotting. My day-to-day work includes running experiments to study expression of cell survival proteins in a Parkinson’s cell model. I have also been shadowing Drexel grad students to gain exposure to other fields and techniques of lab research. It’s been really cool seeing real-life applications of topics that I learned about in my biology classes and translating previous knowledge I’ve gained into the work that I’m currently doing.

Why did you apply for this internship?  

I applied for this internship because I’m really interested in doing research as a career, and I wanted to gain more experience in a lab. I’m particularly interested in neurology and immunology research, which is why I was so excited to be matched with Dr. Sandhya Kortagere’s lab that does neuroimmunology work.  

What has been your favorite part of the internship? 

So far, aside from the really cool science I’ve been doing, my favorite part of this internship has been the people I’ve gotten to work with. The grad students in my lab are some of the smartest and coolest people I’ve ever met, and they’ve really solidified my desire to pursue a graduate degree in science as well! I know the connections I’ve made here will be so beneficial to me in the future, and I’m so grateful to have learned from such wonderful humans. 

Can you give us three adjectives and three nouns that describe your internship experience? 

Adjectives: interesting, challenging, exciting  

Nouns: gloves, gels, cells