What is your Lucerna project about?
My project, “The Neuropathological Analysis of Sport and Blast TBIs,” co-written with Lauren Cooper, is about traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Essentially, we’re looking at how the brain is impacted on a short and long-term basis once a TBI has occurred.
Why are you interested in this topic?
There were a lot of things that drew me to this topic. First, I have always loved the intricacies of the brain, and how it is able to adapt and constantly change, especially during injury. Second, a lot of my family is in the military and have been deployed across seas and have had to face the idea that something could change their lives in an instant, so it was almost a tribute to them in a way as well. We’ve seen a lot of studies that have focus specifically on sports injuries. We wanted to see how a military versus sports traumatic brain injury differed.
What have been the benefits and challenges of this project?
There was definitely a challenge in getting the research we needed, especially on the military blast side. There isn’t a whole lot of information out there, which is one of the reasons why we wanted to investigate it. The government isn’t going to just publish all this on their soldiers. But after intense research and even contacting currently deployed relatives, we had so much research at our hands. There was a lot of sifting through information to figure out statistics and the specific impacts of the mechanism that an IED had on the brain. There were weeks where we were just going through this information with a fine-tooth comb and it really taught us the importance and diligence of this information and why it is so important to get out there for others to see.
What is your advice for students who are interested in publishing their work in Lucerna?
If I had to give any advice, it would be to put your heart and soul into your research. That sounds cheesy, but if you love what you were researching and you have such an affinity for it, you won’t back down until it’s perfect. And once you think you’re done, go over it five more times. See if there’s any more information out there to help you. We gain access to more information every day and research that spans our knowledge that needs to be examined. Use your resources and professors, and reach out to people who are experts in the field you are researching.
What are your professional plans or goals?
My professional plans are to become a surgeon and specialize in neurology. I graduated from UMKC in May 2021, and I currently attend St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada. I plan on taking part in further neurological research opportunities here.
