A quick snap of me ready to present my research findings.

Author: Jessica Doss | Major: Chemistry | Semester: Spring 2025

Hello, my name is Jessica Doss, and I am a second-year student at the University of Arkansas studying Chemistry and Anthropology, with minors in Japanese, Medical Humanities, and Political Science! As soon as I entered college, I was enthusiastic about beginning undergraduate research and began to work in Dr. Suresh Kumar Thallapuranam’s Biochemistry lab. My research focuses on adding mutations to human Fibroblast Growth Factor 1, which is a protein heavily involved in our bodies’ cell growth, repair, and survival, and differentiation processes. Previously, our lab members were able to add some mutations to this protein at an unstable binding site to make it stable enough for clinical use, effectively stopping the binding site for a molecule called heparin from working. However, why exactly those mutations worked need further investigation, and my research focuses on trying to restore that heparin binding on a different side of the protein while still keeping the growth factor shelf-stable.

I had the premier opportunity to present my progress on this research at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research, which took place in Pittsburgh this year. I wanted to go to this conference as it appeared to be a good opportunity to network with similarly paced undergraduate research, and understand how my peers and I fit into the larger scheme of university-led research. I was pleasantly surprised by how well equipped I felt the University of Arkansas made me feel with my research experience, though I think this trip gave me more directive as to how research can directly translate into professional opportunity. I also got a lot of great feedback on how to further better my poster structure, the importance of knowing how to simplify the details of your research, and motivation and direction to researching the background of my research in a more in-depth fashion. I particularly was asked some very inquisitive questions by a fellow peer that forced me to think a little deeper about the chemical foundations of my research, which I was swiftly revisited since my trip to Pittsburgh.

Through this conference, I was able to network with over 10 individuals who all conducted biochemistry and molecular biology research, from institutions like the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Honors College, UNC Chapel Hill, and the University of Michigan. Some of these people I met while presenting or viewing posters, and later were able to ask in-depth questions about their research over a meal. Others were entirely happenstance, meeting them in my initial journey to the conference or walking travel between my hotel and the conference center, and resulted in productive conversation and the potential for a lifelong connection in the industry. This conference has broadened my network, especially with regards to peers in my field. I have learned a lot in particular about neurochemistry and clinical research that goes towards fighting brain cancer, which is something I didn’t expect most of my new connections to have in common but I learned that a lot of the same biochemical techniques can be used to solve a variety of problems!

I presented at this conference, and learned that most people are there to just learn about your research rather than critically assess it. In that fashion, it becomes more important that your research is comprehensible to the general public that it is to sound “academic”. I learned some valuable skills in conveying my research in a digestible manner, and my advice to students who plan to do this in the near future is to practice explaining your research to a family member or friend at least once before travelling. I would also encourage people to apply earlier in their research journey – no research is ever complete in the way that it is generally imagined, and it is valuable to present your findings while still working on your research. For me, it has served as a motivator to push the boundaries of what I am learning with my research, and I think all students earlier than their final semester should have a chance to explore what I got to experience. I plan on taking my learning from this conference and applying them to further investigate my research topic’s background, building foundations for a stronger thesis in the future with the potential for a high-yield, well conducted final product.