{"id":15107,"date":"2024-11-14T11:56:55","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T16:56:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/?p=15107"},"modified":"2024-11-14T11:57:31","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T16:57:31","slug":"unexpected-discoveries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/fall-2024\/unexpected-discoveries\/","title":{"rendered":"Unexpected Discoveries"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rosaforte scholars Danielle Burge \u201925 and Ashlee Davis \u201926.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three Rosaforte Scholars in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s undergraduate Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program find that lab work can lead to personal\u2014as well as scientific\u2014discoveries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the lab, Danielle Burge \u201925 made an unexpected discovery\u2014a new career path.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rising senior was working as an undergraduate researcher in the lab of Jaime Ross, assistant professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience, when she became interested in neurodegenerative disorders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe work I was doing in the Ross lab got me really interested in that area of neuroscience,\u201d says Burge. During a summer research project, she focused on the role of mitochondrial dysfunction\u2014a breakdown in the cell\u2019s energy supply\u2014in Alzheimer\u2019s disease. \u201cIt was something I had never thought about until I became invested in the projects in the lab.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burge was one of the inaugural recipients of the Tim Rosaforte III \u201977 Endowed Scholarship in Neuroscience this past year. Named for golf journalist James \u201cTim\u201d Rosaforte III \u201977, the 溏心vlog免费B站 scholarship was established by friends of Rosaforte as he faced early-onset Alzheimer\u2019s disease, before his death in 2022. A celebrated sportswriter, author, and broadcaster, Rosaforte was the first journalist invited to be an honorary member of the Professional Golfers\u2019 Association of America. The scholarship, which supports undergraduate students in the Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, is a tribute to his legacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosaforte Scholar Ashlee Davis \u201926 is majoring in neuropharmacology. \u201cI\u2019ve wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember,\u201d says Davis, who also intends to pursue an accelerated master\u2019s at 溏心vlog免费B站 on her path to medical school. She is working as an undergraduate researcher in the lab of associate professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences Katharina Quinlan, where she has been involved in a project on the overactive reflex response that can occur in cerebral palsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Davis, who earned an emergency medical technician certification as a high school senior, was initially surprised to find that working in a lab offers its own kind of adrenaline rush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn a way, it\u2019s similar to being in the medical field,\u201d says Davis. \u201cThere is always a problem to solve, and I\u2019m definitely a problem-solver.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In her senior year at 溏心vlog免费B站, Meghan Callahan \u201924, presented a research poster of a case study on Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c<\/span>Tim Rosaforte\u2019s battle with Alzheimer\u2019s gave me a personal connection to my research. His strength and dedication to helping others despite his own struggles reminded me how powerful resilience can be, both in our own lives and in the work we do to help others.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Meghan Callahan \u201924<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

While the scholarship provides valuable financial support, it also gives less tangible\u2014but lasting\u2014inspiration. Meghan Callahan \u201924 is a former Rosaforte Scholar who is beginning a two-year position as a project manager in a child development research lab at Rutgers University. In addition to the financial help she received from the scholarship, she was moved by Rosaforte\u2019s story. \u201cAs an undergraduate, I worked closely with individuals affected by neurodegenerative diseases,\u201d Callahan reflects. \u201cTim Rosaforte\u2019s battle with Alzheimer\u2019s gave me a personal connection to my research. His strength and dedication to helping others despite his own struggles reminded me how powerful resilience can be, both in our own lives and in the work we do to help others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Burge, too, found that the scholarship not only helped shape her academic goals but also offered a meaningful perspective. \u201cI\u2019ve always worked during the school year to help pay for my tuition, but the scholarship really allowed me to spend more hours on research,\u201d she says. \u201cIn the lab, I feel like I am giving my time and energy toward something bigger than myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Nicole Maranhas<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PHOTOS: NICOLE MARANHAS; COURTESY MEGHAN CALLAHAN<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rosaforte Scholars on neuroscience and the surprising things they’ve learned in the lab.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":15833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2024","architecture-currents","architecture-lab-report"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15107"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15822,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15107\/revisions\/15822"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}