21 Jun Anna Countryman | BNI | Week Two

Example of FreeSurfer Analysis

Happy Father’s Day! Somehow, we’re already two weeks into this internship. Sidenote: I’m going to keep this blog a little shorter and sweeter than last week’s. This week, I’ve spent a lot more time tuning in on the actual focuses of my project compared to the general overview and training I’d done last week. I started the focus by attending a sample run of cognition tests performed by Dr. Stokes and one of her coworkers, who’s also on the study, on the project manager of Stokes Lab to give me a general idea of how it normally goes. I also got to participate in a few of the tests. I hadn’t really known what to expect, so it was nice to get an overview. Our seminars this week were mainly focused on networking and our final presentation at the Symposium. On our last day, there will be an event open to the public where we’ll each be able to present our projects and findings in a short-form, elevator pitch style. With the details of this given during Thursday’s seminar, I began planning the layout of my poster. I made multiple so I’ll have a choice once I begin entering information. Wednesday night was a Q&A style Career Night. The undergrad interns and some of the highschoolers, myself included, attended and got to meet PHD students, a neurosurgery resident, researchers, and the CEO of Barrow. All had very different paths and interesting takes on the questions, so it was great to hear the differing perspectives. A few of them had gotten a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering, which is actually one of my top choices right now.

Monday, I spent the whole day watching tutorials and taking notes on the program R, a coding platform that focuses on statistical analysis. I’ve never taken a real, high level coding class, so I was practically starting from scratch. I think R and programming as a whole will be something I continue to learn as I go; I’m also learning more about FreeSurfer, which is an application for analyzing MRI scans of the brain accurately. It works by segmenting the brain into white and gray matter and cerebrospinal fluid. It then matches the subject’s brain with a reference brain, measuring things like thickness and curvature. I know there’s many other pieces I haven’t yet mastered in either, so I’m looking forward to continuing that educational journey. On Thursday, I received data relating to my project. The spreadsheet provided over 50 characteristics of different cognitive tests done on 36 different individuals. The individuals are organized in groups based on their

Starbucks and SAT prep

neurodegenerative disease or whether they’re considered a healthy control. I spent the rest of my time working to find correlations between any 2 sets of that data, locate outliers or errors, and make observations. I’ll be excited to see how those connections can contribute to the study. This week, I received a second laptop directly from Barrow to access any professional accounts and work-related information. I also got a new parking assignment which requires a 15-minute walk to the building. Despite it being in the high 80s when I show up in the morning and closer to 110 degrees when I leave, I actually don’t mind the walk. It gives me time to mentally prepare for the job and recap the day in my brain on the way home. 

Jazz Band Concert

Outside of the lab, I attended another volleyball open gym, went to my host family sister’s band concert, and wrote some application essays at a Starbucks. It’s hard to turn down an offer like free refills at a coffee shop if you stay in the building, so I hung out there for a few hours to write. The band concert was super fun as well. It took place at this really cool jazz club where each group did a 20-minute segment of the show. I enjoyed seeing the differences in levels of play. I also found the music and atmosphere very nostalgic since I used to play in a jazz band in Middle School. I’m also planning to go to the movies with a couple of other interns in the next couple weeks! I’m not sure what we’ll see yet, but I’m excited to do something outside of work for a few hours with girls my age. 

Until next week!