Written by Diana Bautista Hernandez, Student Media Assistant for OEL
Alison Kellom, a senior undergraduate student (Class of ’25) pursuing a B.S. in Biological Sciences, dedicated time to research a crucial need in the field of oncology. Her project, Reversing Chemotherapy Resistance in Aggressive Forms of Cancer, mentored by Dr. Pia Vogel (Biological Sciences), dives deep into lab research and trials of different proteins through computational methods.
Over the past 40 years, researchers have struggled to find a solution to the survival of aggressive cancers. Even when patients are administered different drugs in chemotherapy, some cancer cells survive; these cells are called “multidrug resistant.” Dr. Vogel’s lab is working with novel compounds in vitro to develop a clinical model that can screen the success rate of treatments. As a result, patients may experience quicker recoveries and a much better quality of life during chemotherapy. Through the Engaged Learning Fellowship, Kellom gained hands-on experience tackling this issue.
This unique project has not only contributed to the field but also has left Alison with a personal takeaway. She explains that her biggest lesson was learning to accept that you cannot control the results, especially in science. “Science doesn’t always go your way,” she says. During weekly lab meetings, she often found herself with little or no presentable data, which was initially discouraging. However, she soon realized that data points aren’t the only measure of learning and progress. “Eventually I learned that you don’t always need to get results to learn in the lab!” This resulted in helping her build a strong foundation in research, adding, “you can draw from in the future.” As Alison puts it, “I truly believe that the ability to make mistakes during research is the only way science could progress!”