Presenting my poster.
Author: Jenova Kemkes | Major: Biomedical Engineering | Semester: Spring 2023
My name is Jenova Kempkes and I am a junior biomedical engineering student at the University of Arkansas. Under the supervision of Dr. Gray in the exercise science research center (ESRC) I completed a study on the impact of biological sex on cognitive decline. What does this mean? It means that I looked to see if there was a difference in cognitive decline between healthy men and women between the ages of 45 and 75 years. I learned that even though women are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) at nearly twice the rate, there was no difference in cognitive decline between men and women. I recently had the privilege to share this research at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
The opportunity to attend and present at NCUR was a fun and educational experience. Over 3,000 students traveled from around the country to present their research. This culminated in a research conference that represented every discipline from music performance to math, English to engineering and everything in between. This diversity of academic disciplines was my favorite part of the conference. I had never been exposed to any kind of research outside of traditionally STEM research such as engineering and exercise science. With this fact in mind, I made an effort to speak with people and hear about research outside of my traditional scope. I learned a lot from networking with students researching in a similar field as myself, but I think I grew more as an individual by speaking with students from more diverse academic backgrounds.
The highlight of the conference for me was listening to a plenary by Dr. Timothy Nelson from the Mayo Clinic – Rochester. He spoke about the shortcomings of healthcare, and how we can have an impact as future healthcare workers. It was a motivating and educational plenary focused on the cycle between money and knowledge. Research creates money into knowledge, but healthcare struggles to turn knowledge into new innovations as efficiently as other industries. In order for healthcare to continue to grow and improve, healthcare workers need to embrace an entrepreneurial spirit. Listening to Dr. Nelson made me excited about my own research and the research of my peers, but also encouraged me to look at research with the lens of, ‘What’s next?’ How can we take research and apply to help improve patient care? These are excellent questions that should be in the mind of every researcher regardless of field or discipline. Presenting my research at NCUR and at the University of Arkansas means that my honors research is coming to a close. It is a feeling of pride and sadness to say that I will soon be finished with research at the University of Arkansas. I have been working with Dr. Gray in the ESRC for over three years. It has been an incredible opportunity to grow my critical thinking skills, connect with members in the community that participated in the study, and create friendships. I have three pieces of advice for anyone considering starting their own journey into research. 1. Find a topic that makes you excited Research is only fun when you are interested, invested and wanting to learn. 2. Choose your mentor strategically Every lab and mentor will have a different philosophy on research and a student’s involvement. Choose a mentor that you connect with, can learn from, and has a research philosophy that meets your goals. 3. Take responsibility for your experience Ultimately, your research experience is what you make of it. You have to take the initiative and make an effort to create and facilitate the experience that you want. There is a community of individuals willing to support you if you take ownership of your time at the University of Arkansas.