postbac

Poster Days Spotlight Young Researchers

Budding Scientists Showcase Research at Annual Event

Yasmin Ali

Any scientist who wants to make game-changing discoveries has to start somewhere — even Albert Einstein worked in a patent office before landing his first job in academia. Through its Postbaccalaureate IRTA program, NIH hopes to give aspiring scientists more of a leg up than Einstein had by bringing them into IRP labs after they complete their undergraduate studies.

On April 26, 27, and 28, more than 900 recent college graduates participating in the program presented at this year’s virtual Postbac Poster Days. Read on to learn about a few of these young researchers and their contributions to the groundbreaking work being done at NIH.

Postbac Poster Day Showcases Young Scientific Talent

Scientists-in-Training Impress at Virtual Event

Malcolm Udeozor

Despite the challenges of working during a global pandemic, IRP scientists continue to make groundbreaking discoveries and mentor the next generation of researchers. This includes the hundreds of recent college graduates conducting research in NIH labs through the Postbaccalaureate IRTA program. On April 28, 29, and 30, many of these budding scientists presented the fruits of their efforts at this year’s virtual Postbac Poster Day. Read on to learn about a small sampling of the scientific strides NIH’s postbacs are making.

Postbac Life: A Week in an IRP Lab

postbac IRTA Lindsey Jay examining a slide using a microscope

What does a postbac actually do in the NIH IRP? Maybe you have an image of someone mixing colorful chemicals together like a mad scientist (which sometimes isn’t too far from the truth).

Although I am not creating any diabolical concoctions, I am kept quite busy running tests to examine whether our treatments reverse the effects of lung fibrosis, a thickening and scarring of lung tissue. Here’s what a typical week looks like for me.

Inside NIH’s Research Festival

As I trekked along the manicured sidewalk of Convent Drive, heading toward Building 10, I felt the now-familiar weight of the poster tube hanging over my shoulder. Inside that poster tube was, as the name implies, a scientific poster with which I was extremely familiar. My calves burned underneath the intensity of my power walk, as I remained calm and ready to present my project about mice undergoing anesthesia.

Lucy Bauer interviews Dr. Brenda Klaunberg of NIH Mouse Imaging Facility at ResearchFest