Name of the classmate whose portfolio you will be viewing: Leon Lai

What would you say the biggest strengths of this person are and why?

Leon is great at reflecting upon his experiences. When I was going through his posts, I was impressed with the depth of reflection on projects and assignments, and the effort that he had put into identifying successes and challenges. I think that this is a great skill that will serve Leon well in his future in the sciences.

What is the most valuable thing you learned from doing your final project?

The most valuable thing I learned from doing this project is how challenging it can be to come up with an original research question that a) fills a gap in the present scientific knowledge, and b) is in logical accordance with the existing data in the literature. I found myself constantly having ideas of things to investigate, but I would quickly realize that my line of reasoning was disproven or called into question by other studies. I must have gone through 10 different research questions and hypotheses before finally settling on one. I have a newfound respect for grad students and scientific researchers, who must constantly be looking for new areas to investigate. It requires far more delving into the existing literature than I had previously imagined, and requires you to synthesize these dozens of papers and research findings into a model that makes sense to investigate. I will definitely be bringing my PI a coffee next time I hear that he is working on grant proposals, since I now understand what a struggle it can be!

What do you think your classmate may have learned that you have not, or vice versa?

Leon learned a lot about clinical research by investigating his final project. His project was examining the effect of alcohol consumption on the immune system of children, which has the potential to be ethically contentious – both because it involves a substance that can be damaging for health, and because it involves children, which requires additional ethical safeguards. Through working on his project, it is clear that Leon learned how to ethically conduct a clinical study, ensuring the safety and comfort of all participants.

Contrary to Leon, my final project was focused on model systems – specifically, cell culture and mouse models of disease. Therefore, I learned how to choose a model system that works well for my purposes and that best recapitulates the physiological conditions in humans.