Name: Jaclyn Lo
Class Year: 2022
Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Minor: Health Studies
Hometown: Toronto, Canada
Internship Organization: Children’s Hospital Colorado
Job Title: Pediatric Endocrinology Summer Research Intern
Endowed Internship Funding Award: Simonson Endowed Internship Fund
Location: Aurora, Colo. (remotely from Toronto!)
One important area of research is how transgender males are impacted by hormone therapy. This summer, my research project compared adolescents with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which typically impacts hormones, and transgender males receiving testosterone hormone therapy. All of the data was already collected from research visits, so my role was to analyze the data sets using advanced statistical and analytics to ultimately publish our research findings. I am continuing to work with my mentor through the Fall semester on the findings that increased bile acid concentrations are associated with long-term elevated testosterone in adolescents with PCOS. Together with Dr. Green and the research team, we submitted research abstracts to two upcoming conferences. Both were accepted with one being a virtual presentation at the international conference on PCOS. It’s a big deal for an undergraduate student to present at a medical conference!
This past January, I had the opportunity to shadow Dr. Cree-Green ’99, M.D., Ph.D., (my first choice!) through the Bryn Mawr College Extern Program coordinated by the Career & Civic Engagement Center. She is a pediatric endocrinology physician-researcher conducting research focusing on PCOS. I shadowed her in clinic and observed many aspects of conducting research. I find her research fascinating and especially impactful because she conducts research exploring new therapeutic strategies for PCOS, a community that she also cares for in the clinic. Dr. Cree-Green’s passion and dedication to her work are inspiring, so I really wanted to work with her and gain experience in biomedical research.
Through this experience, I continue to learn and grow a lot. This summer, I learned about data analysis and reporting and learned how to use specialized software for statistical and metabolomic analysis. I also improved my communication skills as I had to talk about my project in brief to the research group as well as present at the Children’s Hospital Colorado Annual Pediatric Endocrinology Research Day. I am thankful for the opportunity to practice and improve my public speaking skills as presenting can be challenging for me, like most people.
In one of my weekly project meetings with Dr. Cree-Green, she talked about how she came up with the idea to compare females with PCOS and transgender males. The two groups may seem dissimilar at first, so it was interesting to understand the physiological explanation behind it. Her explanation and my experience working on this project so far highlighted the real-world applications of my studies at BMC to improve health outcomes through research, so I’m especially excited about my courses this semester. I’ve been energized to further contribute to research, and I encourage you to take advantage of the programs and opportunities at BMC to find your passion.
Visit the Summer 2020 Internships page to read more student stories.