Meghan Gorbach got an early start as a researcher.
Gorbach, who is starting her first year in the College of Medicine, jumped at the chance to do research when she was a Kent State University student in the B.S./M.D. program. “I saw that NEOMED was welcoming undergrads into the labs and so I started working here as a lab assistant two years ago,’’ she said. “Everything that I learned to do in the lab the last two years set me up very well for my first project on my own.’’
Gorbach completed NEOMED’s Summer Research Fellowship Program, which provides mentored research opportunities to medicine and pharmacy students. Along with fellow participants, she was in the NEW Center Ballroom on Friday to explain her glaucoma research to anyone browsing the 52 posters that were on display to represent the summer’s projects. From the fellowship, Gorbach learned not only about how micrologia (the immune cells of the central nervous center) are involved in the inflammation process, but also about how hard it is to get a good photo reproduction of what a researcher sees through a high-powered microscope.
On Friday, the Ballroom was buzzing over the lunch hour while students greeted friends and invited passers-by to hear about their projects. Topics ranged from the technical (exploring earplug-induced hearing loss in gerbils in order to lay the foundation for addressing hearing loss in children) to the practical (“Addressing Domestic Violence in Primary Care Settings” and “Does Gender Play a Role in the Progression and Consequences of Heart Failure?) It was a promising beginning for years of research ahead.