For Justin, Lingyun, Gisele and Junho this summer has been a productive and busy time as they worked hard to hone critical research skills. Here’s what they had to say about their experiences over the last four months.
Justin Trac
“My time in the Santerre Lab this summer was extremely rewarding. Having found interest in biomaterials during my first year at the Faculty of Dentistry, I am grateful to have learned about scaffolds in the context of cardiovascular disease. My project was focused on quantifying fibrosis-related gene expression in human cardiac fibroblasts following exposure to monocyte secretions that were generated from interactions with a novel gelatin/D-PHI/PCNU scaffold. In this regard, the goal was to determine whether this new scaffold, which has optimized mechanical properties, would affect fibrotic development. This project won 1st prize at the Dentistry Summer Research Presentation Day 2022, with a travel award valued at $1,000 to attend the International Association for Dental Research 2023 in Bogota, Columbia. Despite not being directly related to dentistry, this research provided me with translatable skills and background knowledge that allowed me to see scaffolds being used for gingival grafts to help promote healthy tissue growth. Overall, I would like to thank Dr. Santerre, Yizhou Chen, and everyone else with whom I interacted with for making my summer an amazing experience.”
Lingyun Zhu
“My project was to develop and evaluate a 3-step ester-free adhesive system that has stronger hydrolytic stability under enzymatic challenges. I learned a wide variety of dental adhesive and resin research techniques, the bonding testing procedure of micro-tensile strength and interfacial fracture toughness, the enzyme incubation conditions, and my scientific writing skills. I also practised my communication skills through various platforms such as poster presentations, the dentistry research day presentation, and weekly meetings. It's been a worthwhile and pleasing research experience in the Santerre lab this summer. I would like to thank Katya for introducing the lab to me, Professor Santerre for providing me with the opportunity, my PhD supervisor Zach for his patience and guidance, and all the other lab members and summer students for their help. Hope they have good luck in their future academic career.”
Gisele Beier
“Working in the Santerre Lab this summer was a very enriching and enjoyable experience as well as significantly contributed to the development of my lab skills. My tissue engineering project was focused on generating and characterizing arterial grafts from patient-derived cells for use in reconstructive surgery in patients with pulmonary hypertension. Through my experiments, I learned aseptic techniques and developed skills related to cell culture, bioreactors, electrospinning, immunostaining, and confocal microscopy. From the obstacles encountered in my project, I was able to apply and develop my problem-solving capabilities which were incredibly rewarding. Lastly, conversations with lab members and other students around TBEP allowed me to expand on my knowledge of biomedical engineering and learn about many interesting areas of development in heart research. I would like to thank my supervisor Katya D’Costa, for being so supportive and for her guidance throughout the summer, as well as Dr. Santerre for the opportunity to work in his lab.”
Gisele was awarded both the “Best Poster Presentation Award" for a poster session at the TBEP Undergraduate Showcase and the “Hinman Student Research Symposium Award” for her presentation at the Dentistry Summer Research Presentation Day 2022.
Junho Lee
“Being a part of the Santerre Lab for my summer research was an eye-opening experience and enriching. My summer research project involved characterizing Santerre lab-engineered nanoparticles for the delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 as RNPs to HEK293T cells. Also, these poly-L-histidine nanoparticles were compared to existing commercial alternatives (CRISPRMAX). Through this research, I learned so much about the current state of gene editing technology, different strategies to deliver CRISPR/Cas9 to the target, and their limitations. As well, I gained proficiency in many laboratory techniques such as cell culture and confocal microscopy. Having my first poster and oral presentation at the end to summarize my work this summer was a rewarding experience and I believe my summer research at the Santerre Lab has helped me become more resilient, improved my ability to think critically, and allowed me to immerse myself in the world of research. I would like to thank Dr. Santerre for providing me with the opportunity, my supervisor, Suja, for being an amazing mentor every step of the way, and all members of the Santerre Lab for their help and support.”