I am a Researcher, a Churchill Scholarship Winner, and a Goldwater Scholarship Winner!

URH Research Programs: TRELS (spring 2020, winter 2022, spring 2022), URS - Julia Brown Research Scholarship for Medical Research (summer 2022)

What are you researching? 

My research projects leverage genomic, clinical, wearable (Fitbit), epidemiological, and unstructured free-text data to better understand the biological and social aspects of psychiatric disorders. Currently, my projects focus on depression, suicide, and substance use disorders.

Why and how did you decide to get involved in undergraduate research?

How did you hear about the Churchill scholarship?

One of my research mentors, Sally Baxter, was a Marshall scholar who told me about the UK scholarships.

What interested you in applying for it?

Receiving funding to live and work in another country for a year seemed like a fantastic opportunity to engage in a cool research project and learn about how research is done in another part of the world.

How was the application process?

The application process was challenging. The summer before senior year, I worked through MD-PhD applications and other scholarship applications on top of my research projects. I almost didn’t submit my Churchill application – not only did I have to prepare separate essay responses and coordinate additional letters of recommendation from current research mentors, but I also prepared a project proposal with a potential faculty advisor at the University of Cambridge and Wellcome Sanger Institute. Because this process was so extensive and I’d heard the scholarship was so competitive, I almost didn’t apply. But I thought I might as well give it a shot, so I submitted the application relatively late and didn’t hope for much.

How will the scholarship benefit you?

The Churchill scholarship will help me grow in two significant ways: teaching me cutting-edge research tools and techniques and building my skills in working in interdisciplinary and multicultural teams.

My research interests are in precision medicine and psychiatry – to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders and ultimately develop better diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for them. In my research experiences so far, I’ve realized how advanced other fields feel compared to psychiatry. One example of this is the differences between cancer genomics and psychiatric genomics. During an internship at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, I experienced how exciting longitudinal whole-genome sequencing (WGS) was in improving our understanding of how brain cancers change over time and in response to treatment. But as WGS has become widespread and even outpaced by newer technologies in cancer research, it is only now making its way to psychiatry. As a Churchill Scholar, I will be joining the lab of Dr. Sam Behjati at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. There, I will learn how to look beyond WGS by applying single-cell and spatial transcriptomics to study healthy and tumor tissue from a pediatric high-grade glioma patient. While WGS tells us about the patterns of variation we have across our genomes, transcriptomics gives us a better idea of what is happening biologically within ourselves – what genes are being expressed and to what degree. Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics take it a step further, telling us what is happening within specific cells and physical regions of the brain. I hope that when I return to the United States to start my MD-PhD and begin my career as a physician-scientist, I will be able to leverage single-cell and spatial transcriptomics in my research, advancing our understanding of the biological underpinnings of psychiatric disorders.

Next, working in another field and another part of the world will teach me how to work in interdisciplinary and multicultural teams, which I see as vital to my long-term goal of helping advance the vision of equitable precision medicine in psychiatry – to not only develop better ways of diagnosing and treating psychiatric disorders but to ensure that they effectively serve the needs of our diverse and growing global community. I understand that science and clinical medicine are only part of the picture: truly advancing this vision will require working with advocates and community leaders to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health; working with lawyers and experts in public policy to ensure policies support equitable access to cutting-edge mental healthcare strategies; working with entrepreneurs and industry partners to scale up novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies; and so much more. Because what good is a cure if we don’t have enough supply? Or if certain communities don’t have access to it? Spending a year living and working in the UK will help me develop my skills in working in and eventually leading interdisciplinary and multicultural teams – attributes vital to teams tackling complex problems in the world.

What advice do you have for others interested in applying for this scholarship (or others)?

Definitely apply. Scholarships provide a valuable community that will help you grow professionally and personally in ways you may not realize. I only recently began to recognize the value of the Churchill Scholarship beyond just being a cool research opportunity – that it would be an opportunity for cultural immersion, a chance to learn about the unique healthcare system in the UK, an opportunity to travel around Europe, and an opportunity for a break before starting my MD-PhD training. These were not things I really considered when preparing my application. In my experience, the most exciting and meaningful aspects of something you apply to may not be revealed until long after you hit the “submit” button.

I thought it would be a great opportunity to help me reduce the burden of tuition and fees on my family (college is expensive!). I also felt it would be especially meaningful if I were awarded the scholarship, given my interests in psychiatry and mental health. Significant biomedical and social progress has been made in the field, but there is still a long way to go. To me, being awarded the scholarship would represent change: the growing recognition that mental health is important, that significant progress is still needed, and that psychiatric research is just as meaningful and important as other areas, like cancer or immunology research.

How was the application process?

I found the application pretty intense, so I started brainstorming my responses and potential directions for the research essay early on. It’s a lot of work to get through, but if you give yourself plenty of time, you can put together something you can be proud of, and it won’t be too stressful. I would definitely advise against starting the application like 2 weeks or 1 month before the due date.

How has the scholarship benefited you?