Two seniors participate in research symposium

Alexis Cambridge, of Slidell, and Varun Amin, of Lake Charles, interned for five weeks with alumni, research labs and professionals. The two were housed on the NCSSM campus.

Cambridge acted as a research assistant in the analytical lab at the Duke Wetland Center. She also performed research of her own that she presented at a symposium at the end of the program.

“My favorite part of the program was gaining the lab experience and going into the field with my mentor,” she said. “I also enjoyed meeting the students from NCSSM and talking about the similarities between our schools.”

Amin worked with Dr. Micah Luftig, a 1994 graduate of LSMSA and associate professor of molecular genetics and microbiology at Duke University, in the virology lab. His presentation at the symposium was “Gene expression in cells infected by Epstein-Barr virus early and late after infection.”

The goal of the research internship program is to engage students in a real-world learning experience to further develop knowledge in a field of study and to get the opportunity to be hands-on as they progress on their projects.

Many mentors focus on students’ curiosity and enthusiasm for research, rather than their background or coursework related to the topic.

This research opportunity was sponsored by the LSMSA Foundation.