Conference Presentation: Sofia Cuello

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) conference was truly an experience, especially as the only undergraduate attendee. I feel beyond lucky to have had the opportunity to attend such a renowned and prestigious event, amongst established health care professionals, pharmaceuticals, and medical students from top universities around the country. Alongside these brilliant minds, I was able to present my undergraduate thesis project on Identifying Mechanisms of Antioxidant Treatment in Drug Resistant Breast Cancer, discussing our current findings in the study, future experiments, and the greater clinical potential of this research. When not presenting, I was able to attend continuing education discussions with guest speakers on current developments in various cancer treatments, catching a glimpse of what my future career in clinical oncology might look like. Through networking with the many people around me at this conference, I gained valuable insight on potential career pathways and guidance to how to achieve my own goals after graduation. As I look towards my career after UTampa, I am grateful to have had this experience and it will heavily impact my future in oncology, clinical research, and translational medicine. Thank you to the UTampa Honors Department and the College of Natural and Health Science for funding this opportunity, and thank you to Dr. Dobrinski for her guidance as my thesis advisor and helping me get to this position of presenting at NCCN. I hope future UTampa students get the opportunity to present here or at similar conferences, as it has been imperative to my own professional development. 

Best,

Sofia Cuello

Abby Gurevitch: Poster presentation at the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting

This March, I had the incredible opportunity to attend the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting in San Diego, thanks to the generous funding from the Honors program. It was an event filled with inspiring talks, innovative research, and an opportunity to connect with professionals and fellow students in the field of chemistry. During the conference, I had the opportunity to present my research in a poster session. My poster, titled “Preparation of 2-Substituted Indoles by Reduction of (2-Nitrophenyl)acetylenes Followed by Cyclization of the Intermediate,” allowed me to showcase my work on synthesizing new indole derivatives. Presenting my findings was both exciting and nerve-wracking, but it was a rewarding experience to engage with other researchers and receive constructive feedback. Presenting my poster at the ACS conference also helped me develop my public speaking skills. Explaining my research to a diverse audience, including both experts and peers, pushed me to communicate complex ideas clearly and concisely.

-Abby

Delaney Jones: Student Presentation at Ropeless Consortium and North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium

In Fall 2024, I had the opportunity to attend and present my work at the Ropeless Consortium and North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium in Providence, Rhode Island. The consortia bring together conservationists, scientists, government, gear makers, and fishermen to work towards conserving and recovering the highly endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. I have been working on projects with my thesis advisor, Dr. Jeffry Fasick, that pertains to the North Atlantic Right Whale since my sophomore year. At the conference, I presented a poster with the preliminary stages of my thesis, which is about how North Atlantic Right Whales use their different sense to navigate across different spatial scales.

I always knew that attending this conference would be a valuable experience for me, and it has been a goal to attend for years. However, the experience turned out to be more valuable than I could have imagined because of the diversity of other attendees. Listening to scientists, government officials, ropeless gear makers, and fishermen talk/debate about policy, innovations, and what the next benchmarks should be was so informative, and I was exposed to so many perspectives that I would not have known existed if the consortia had been only scientists. The way the discussions happened, and listening to the hurdles encountered has reinforced the value of science to me but also shown me in practical terms that without strong policy, storytelling, consideration of consequences to all involved parties, and relationship building it is only able to accomplish so much. All of this has made me a better scientist and exposed me to more possibilities for my own future.

I would encourage anyone interested to pursue research and attend conferences if given the opportunity. I am well aware that it can be scary, and that imposter syndrome can be somewhat crippling, but the benefits will almost certainly outweigh any costs, and you might walk away with experiences that are valuable in different ways then you initially thought.

Thank you to the College of Natural and Health Sciences as well as the Honors Program for funding my travel and conference experience.

Best,

Delaney