Neuroscience Major Jobs and Graduate School Acceptances 2019
psychology
Taylor Bednar
Majors: chemistry, neuroscience
Hometown: Emmaus, Pennsylvania
Graduate School: Ohio State University
Field of study: chemistry
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
Wonderful connections with faculty and the skills/knowledge to pursue a future career/education in chemistry.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
Organic chemistry research in the Ph.D. program.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
Participating as a member of the field hockey team and interacting with the chemistry staff.
Internship Experience
Biotelemetry: I worked as a certified cardiac technician.
Olivia Lowden
Majors: neuroscience, Spanish
Hometown: Reno, Nevada
Graduate School: Universidad de Málaga
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
Dickinson has made me a critical and worldly thinker. I have gained research experience through the neuroscience program, experience with the Spanish language and with living in a different culture through the Spanish department and important leadership skills through the athletic department. All of the talks I have attended, as well as the classes I have taken outside of my major, have made me a more well-rounded scholar.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
After spending the year in Spain at the Universidad de Málaga through Dickinson's linkage program, I plan to pursue graduate studies in the U.S. to become a bilingual healthcare professional.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
During the spring of my senior year, I attended the Eastern Psychological Association Conference to present neuroscience research with Professor Teresa Barber. This experience opened my eyes to the world of scientific research and helped me understand the field that I am now a part of. During the fall of my sophomore year, I took a class entitled Spanish for the Health Professions in which students work as translators for migrant farmworkers in Adams County. After taking this course, I realized that helping patients bilingually was a skill that I was proud of and wanted to continue developing. During my senior year, I also worked on an independent study that analyzed immigrant healthcare in the U.S., which was a fascinating way to connect my two majors, neuroscience and Spanish. During the spring of my junior year, I went to Spain with the Dickinson in Málaga program. I even stayed for the summer after the program ended and only returned home eight months later! I fell in love with the Spanish culture and quickly made plans to return.
Internship Experience
I worked as an assistant at the Reno Orthopedic Clinic in my hometown of Reno, Nevada, during the summer after my sophomore year. During the summer after my junior year, I worked with La Cruz Roja (The Red Cross) in Spain at an Alzheimer's day center.
Preeti Khanal
Major: neuroscience
Hometown: Kathmandu, Nepal
Employer: Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) Nepal
Job title: intern
Job Responsibilities
I will be taking part in research on different mental health services provided in rural areas of Nepal.
Internship Experience
WHO, intern, worked for the Department of Mental Health for Substance Abuse. Worked in global status report and literature review under the supervision of the head of the department.
Sydney Stanion
Major: neuroscience
Hometown: Portland, Oregon
Employer: ScribeAmerica
Job title: medical scribe
Job Responsibilities
Assisting a healthcare professional by relieving them of medical charting and administrative burden during an appointment, supporting the entire healthcare team by improving efficiency, decreasing provider burnout and increasing the quality of patient care.
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
Academically, I feel very well prepared for the field I want to enter. Aside from academic skills, I have learned or further developed problem solving, time management and professional social skills through classes, working in the Office of Admissions and being captain of the equestrian team.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
I am excited to begin to pursue my career goals or clinical work as a scribe in an outpatient setting. I am excited to apply the knowledge I've gained here at Dickinson to a professional setting and to learn more about the human body and its health in relation to the work I eventually will do. I am nervous for budgeting and affording rent and other necessities.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
Taking leadership positions in my organizations, taking classes I really enjoy both in and out of my major and studying abroad in Copenhagen.
Internship Experience
Legacy Research Institute, Portland, Ore.
- Extracted brain after perfusion and fresh sac, sectioned tissue on cryostat, and mounted sections on slides.
- Stained mounted tissue samples with immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent stains.
- Performed cell counting and image analysis.
- Developed a protocol for brain tissue decellularization to be recellularized with stem cell injections.
- Presented my work to the Research Institute scientists at the end of the summer.
Eve Giordano
Major: neuroscience
Hometown: Arlington, Virginia
Employer: Scribe America
Job title: medical scribe
Job Responsibilities
Essentially a personal assistant to the physician; performing documentation in the EHR, gathering information for the patient's visit and partnering with the physician to deliver the pinnacle of efficient patient care.
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
My liberal-arts education has prepared me well for life after Dickinson by giving me skills in a multitude of subjects. I had the unique opportunity to integrate my learning of science and humanities into other fields such as business and even dance.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
I am interested in pursuing a career in medicine by going to PA school.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
Studying abroad in Australia.
Internship Experience
I worked as a lab assistant at the Madigan Army Medical Center revising lab protocols.
Sarah Dembling
Major: neuroscience
Hometown: Newton Center, Massachusetts
Employer: National Institute of Health
Job title: postbac IRTA
Job Responsibilities
Assisting a postdoc with her research project in Dr. Alan Koretsky's lab at the NINDS (National Institute of Neurological Disorders & Stroke).
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
During my courses at Dickinson, I have been pushed to think critically about issues. I have also immensely improved my writing skills due to practice writing in nearly all of the courses I have taken (including science/lab report writing, writing for humanities courses and creative writing). At Dickinson, I have also had many opportunities both within and outside of courses to do research and learn more about research in the biological sciences. This will help me particularly with my next career step, which is working in a neuroscience lab.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
I am anticipating doing one or two years of neuroscience research at the National Institute of Health. After that, I plan to apply to a Ph.D. program in a psychology or neuroscience field (possibly clinical psychology with a focus in neuropsychology).
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
Some of my defining moments at Dickinson come from taking courses in which I have learned topics that have stuck with me and that I still think and talk about today. These include Brain and Behavior with Prof. Teresa Barber, Prof. Katie Marchetti's WGSS/POSC course, Perspectives in Neuroscience with multiple neuroscience professors, Genetics with Prof. Dana Somers, Spiritual Dimensions of Healing with Prof. Dan Cozort and Creative Writing: Memoir/Essay with Prof. Sharon O'Brien. I have taken a wide variety of courses at Dickinson, within which I have had opportunities to write research papers on topics I am passionate about, learn the basic concepts and more advanced topics related to my major (neuroscience) and participate in meaningful projects. In addition to my courses, I have also had the opportunity to conduct independent and student-faculty research with Prof. Barber. This has been a valuable experience, in which I gained leadership skills and more confidence in a laboratory setting. I had the chance to attend the Eastern Psychological Association conference to present my research, which helped me to feel even more comfortable talking about my research project with others.
Internship Experience
I did a research internship at a neurobiology lab at the University of Haifa in Israel during the summer after my sophomore year. I got the internship as a part of the Onward Israel program, and it counted as an REXP for Dickinson. During my time as an intern, I worked on a small project studying the neurobiological basis of Angelman syndrome. I also worked as the development and communications intern at Safe Harbor in Carlisle, during the first semester of my senior year. Through this experience, I participated in the INP program for my WGST minor. As an intern at Safe Harbor, I assisted in fundraiser planning, designing informational materials, updating contact data, reaching out to organizations for participation in fundraising, designing a display case on homelessness and the history of Safe Harbor and more.
Erin Harten
Majors: biochemistry & molecular biology, neuroscience
Hometown: Cumberland, Rhode Island
Graduate School: Duke University
Field of study: biomedical engineering
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
As a double major in neuroscience and biochemistry & molecular biology, I am prepared with the scientific knowledge and research practice to continue my education at Duke University and later on to succeed in my career. At Dickinson, I have had the valuable opportunity to be involved in original research with professors. I have been able to take classes outside of the sciences, giving me a well-rounded education that will be useful in life after graduation. Through my Dickinson experiences studying abroad and as a student-athlete, I have also developed a broader mindset and better time management, organization and collaboration skills. I have formed amazing relationships with both faculty and students during my time here, and I know that these relationships will also carry into the future.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
I am very excited to be continuing my education, studying biomedical engineering with a concentration in neural engineering. I am looking forward to applying what I have learned at Dickinson to my classes at Duke and expanding my knowledge in a more specific and career-focused direction.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
Attending the Eastern Psychological Association Conference this spring with other students and with Professor of Psychology Teresa Barber, who I have taken classes and researched with beginning my first year at Dickinson, was one big moment for me. Being able to present at a conference showed me how much I have learned in the past four years. I have also loved being a part of the Dickinson cross-country and track & field teams.
Internship Experience
I served as a lab intern/order processing assistant at a nonprofit called Addgene in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for two summers. My experience at Addgene exposed me to the daily functioning of a professional laboratory. Addgene's primary role is to collect plasmid samples and distribute them around the world for scientists to utilize in research. I was able to learn from the employees at Addgene not only about the organization itself but about ongoing projects and different laboratory techniques.
Max Yoshida
Majors: neuroscience, biochemistry & molecular biology
Hometown: Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan
Employer: Michigan Medicine at the University of Michigan
Job title: research assistant
Internship Experience
Health science research internships from laboratory benchwork to clinical survey research.
Brigitte Jacoby
Majors: neuroscience, biochemistry & molecular biology
Hometown: Glastonbury, Connecticut
Employer: Massachusetts General Hospital
Job title: clinical research coordinator
Job Responsibilities
I will be aiding in the completion of clinical trials for a neuroscience research lab focused on cerebella disorders. I will be interviewing possible candidates for the study, as well as organizing patient visits and aiding in writing and presenting the results of the study.
How has Dickinson prepared you for life after graduation?
Dickinson has made me confident in my passion for science and confident in my choice to pursue a career in science postgraduation. I have become a better critical thinker and have much improved laboratory skills, which are translatable in many fields of science research. The atmosphere of the classroom at Dickinson has allowed me to be inquisitive, be it a question of not understanding a topic or a question of how something works. Dickinson has made me a more well-rounded and excited student of a global community.
What are you most anticipating about your career or postgraduate pursuits?
I am excited to continue a career in science while getting to interact with patients in a healthcare setting. During this time, I will also apply for medical school, which is my ultimate goal. I am excited to complete research beyond the classroom and translate what I have learned in and out of the classroom into research in the medical field.
What are some of the defining moments of your Dickinson experience?
Study abroad, Neuroscience 200 labs, Pre-Orientation, Hypnotic, club volleyball, weekend hikes with friends, WDCV concerts, Treehouse Open Mic, Treehouse Soup and Bread, relaxing on Morgan Field, neuroscience baking nights and many, many more!!
Internship Experience
I completed two summer research internships during my time at Dickinson. One was at UCONN Health in Farmington, Connecticut, as a student research assistant, where I was tasked with completing sterile cell culture, suturing and cleaning specimens. My second internship was as a student researcher at the University of Hartford, where I mixed solutions and buffers and helped complete literature searches to draft a procedure for the experiment.
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Published April 5, 2019