Xuan's internship: Vanderbilt University, Tennessee
Integrated Natural Sciences student Xuan spent her summer in the Duvall lab at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, researching carrier-free delivery of Cas9 ribonucleoproteins. Motivated by her long-standing interest in gene therapies and the chance to gain hands-on research experience abroad, Xuan embraced both the scientific and social aspects of her placement, gaining valuable skills and new perspectives on her future career path. Here, she tells us more.
Tell us about your placement and what attracted you to it
I spent my summer in a placement with the Duvall lab at Vanderbilt University, Tennessee, where I conducted research into carrier-free delivery of Cas9 ribonucleoproteins. This was for the purpose of developing a treatment method for rare systemic diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
I was interested in being able to conduct research primarily, as well as the opportunity to study abroad in the States, but I’ve also always been incredibly interested in the potential of Cas9 gene therapies in disease treatment.
What was the first thing you did as part of the placement?
I started by settling down, familiarising myself with the space and meeting everyone in the lab— of which there were many! Then we moved on to the initial steps of the project, working towards designing the plasmids we would need for our RNP complexes.
What did you learn as part of the placement?
I learnt a lot about protein purification protocols since we were testing so many types of Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes, as well as how to troubleshoot when it all went wrong. The poster session that was part of my placement also gave me a good opportunity to practise public speaking in a concise manner, especially when speaking to an audience who was unfamiliar with my topic of research.
Were there opportunities to socialise outside of the labs?
There were many lab lunches, which were a good chance to talk with members of the lab I hadn’t had the opportunity to speak with, as well as the poster session, which gave me lots of time to speak with other students who were also on summer placements at Vanderbilt. I loved the lab aspect of the placement, but the social aspect didn’t fall short either— everyone was super friendly.
What did you most enjoy?
There’s a lot to choose from, especially since so much happened in the space of 10 weeks, but being able to explore Nashville and see what the States was like was definitely up there. The cohort aspect of spending time with labmates and other programme students doing various activities was also amazing, and the graduate student office was a great space to chat about science with like-minded people
Has this changed the way you think about future options?
I’d always wanted to do a PhD after I graduated from the university, however I’d always restricted my mindset to exclusively thinking I should do this PhD in the UK. The placement definitely gave me a lot to think about, especially about whether programmes abroad might be a good fit for me.
Do you have any advice for anyone thinking about summer placements?
Start looking early otherwise the deadlines will creep up on you— not to mention you’ll then be grappling with all your schoolwork at the same time. Also, be bold, if you’re interested in a topic or a lab it doesn’t hurt to ask, even if the PI doesn’t have the time to respond or space to accommodate you.
Internship support at Warwick
There are various support schemes available for those looking for biomedical internships, both internally and externally: