Fellowship Proposal Intro -PP

When one thinks of cancer research, one visualizes rows of petri dish, isolated cell cultures (of either humans or mice) and scientists hunched over benchtops pipetting chemicals. When I heard of my assignment for the LEE-SIP internship, I imagined the same. So, I was really surprised to learn that I would be working with fruit flies and mostly in-vivo. This past summer has taught me that the learning curve of doing research in a lab is exponential and continuous. I have already learned so much, yet there remains so much more to investigate. I have looked into the role of ABC transporters in effluxing chemotherapeutics and facilitating drug resistance. And, I want to understand more about the various regulatory defense mechanisms of our cells and their interaction with toxins. Not only does this research tie in with my current interest in genetics and cell and molecular biology, it also accommodates my future aspirations as an MDPhD candidate. The experiments I am conducting now has valuable implications for future usage of chemotherapeutics and the interaction of cell and molecular biology with environmental science and toxicology.