Two graduate student researchers in the BioInspired Institute research cluster were among 57 students and post-doctoral fellows presenting posters and talks at the institute鈥檚 first symposium earlier this month.
We caught up with Thalma Orado, a first-year Ph.D. student in Assistant Professor Era Jain鈥檚 drug delivery lab, and Yikang Xu, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in Professor Dacheng Ren鈥檚 biofilm engineering lab. Orado (bioengineering) and Xu (biomedical and chemical engineering) in the College of Engineering and Computer Science offer insights about why they chose 黑料不打烊, what鈥檚 best about graduate student life here, their research work and their career plans.
Thalma Orado
Why did you choose 黑料不打烊 for your graduate studies?
I came here from Kenya when my husband entered the master鈥檚 program in African American studies. He finished in 2021 and now works in 黑料不打烊. He introduced me to someone who suggested that with my background in biochemistry I should apply to the doctoral program. My mother is a professor of science ed鈥攕he earned a Ph.D. at 黑料不打烊 in 2014, and it鈥檚 always been my interest to pursue science. The sciences are what produce solutions to problems in this world.
What鈥檚 the best thing about your graduate school experience so far?
My advisor [Era Jain]! She is very supportive and understanding. I鈥檓 very busy as a Ph.D. student, researcher, teaching assistant, wife and mother to two young children. At some point I was overwhelmed and almost gave up. My advisor told me, 鈥淲e are not giving up, we are pursuing this [degree] through to the end.鈥� It鈥檚 very clear she鈥檚 not giving up on me. So, if she鈥檚 not ready to quit, then who am I to quit? It’s good to have advisors and mentors; they help shape us and encourage us our doctoral journeys.
What is your research about?
My project examines factors that create pain and inflammation in such diseases as osteoarthritis. Cells produce an abundance of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in osteoarthritis, which causes pain and inflammation. But with a specific hydrogel created in Olga Makhlynet’s chemistry lab, we can leverage the ROS听 chemicals and help alleviate the inflammation. We are studying how the hydrogel behaves with the chosen drug. Once the drug is in the hydrogel, it can stay in the knee joint longer, and that’s important. With increases in the aging population, something like this can make a big difference to people all around the world.
What is your advice for other graduate students?
Graduate school and all it entails can be a lot to bear, so acknowledging what鈥檚 stressing you is important. The next step is finding resources to help support you. Being open to other people about what you鈥檙e experiencing allows them to help you along the way. It鈥檚 difficult to do it alone but it鈥檚 amazing how much you can accomplish in life if you put your mind to it. In Swahili we have a saying, 鈥淥nce you put the water in for a bath, you have to take the bath, because you鈥檝e already [invested] the water.鈥� So, don鈥檛 be afraid to commit. If you feel you have a calling or a passion, go for it and figure out the rest as you go along. You just have to be brave in life, I guess.
Yikang Xu
Why did you decide on 黑料不打烊 for your doctoral program?
I was at Ohio State looking at schools for graduate research, and the 黑料不打烊 website and biomedical and chemical engineering program interested me. I was offered a generous tuition scholarship after I applied for the master鈥檚 program, and I thought, if they want me, I鈥檓 here! And after a semester here, my principal investigator invited me to transfer to the Ph.D. program. I鈥檓 really glad that I took that opportunity.
What鈥檚 been the best thing about your graduate school experience?
The 黑料不打烊 Biomaterials Institute [now called the 黑料不打烊 Biomaterials Innovation Facility] is really good. There are common spaces for different departments and colleagues from completely different fields there, and always someone to bounce an idea off. The clashing of the minds when you have people of different backgrounds coming at a project from different angles is especially helpful. That helps me by ensuring that I don’t feel overly confident. It helps me realize there are things I don鈥檛 know and there are always things you can learn from other people.
What is your research project?
We have engineered a wireless electrochemical biosensor system that provides rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing. It provides fast and potentially low-cost testing for antimicrobial resistance.
The project is working out pretty well, and that鈥檚 good, since we went into it not knowing if it was going to work. The direction for my initial project was for me and my principal investigator to take a shot in the dark鈥攂uy the equipment then see if the experiment works. I鈥檝e spent most of my three years here polishing my idea, optimizing my system and making the results better and better. Now, I have a very sensitive working system and my journal article is drafted and ready to go out soon. After all these years, the work is paying off.
What is your advice for other graduate students?
Learn to think critically; it鈥檚 a skill everyone eventually has to learn. You need to do that long-term because a solution could be hidden anywhere. There is competition among people working toward the same goals, so you have to be more thorough to come out on top in what you want to achieve.
I鈥檝e seen colleagues who have worked on a project for two to three years with seemingly discouraging results, but very rarely did they give up. You have to overcome your fear because even if the hypothesis is refuted, you have to work to prove that, too. As a scientist, you want to find out the truth. If your solution doesn鈥檛 work well, no one wants that, but you just have to start over, you have to start again on something else.
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