Research Experiences for Undergraduates Student (Summer 2023)

"In my summer at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention (CIRP), I worked on data collection and data operations with the Neuroscience of Driving team. At the start of the summer, we were finishing up collecting data for a Clinical Driving Intervention Pilot Study at one of CHOP’s primary care sites. I got to see firsthand how important a pilot study is in translational research and how it ties directly to the research process.

This summer I learned programming in R. I developed my skills to create a statistical report of results from the Penn CNB cognitive battery administered in our recent pilot study. Not only did I quality check and organize the data, I also derived new variables to further analyze our results and represent them with appropriate graphs and figures.

After testing out the cognitive tests myself, I was able to explore my curiosities with an independent research question. I researched differences in performance between number and letter blocks on the continuous performance task through literature review and preliminary data analysis. Being that this summer was my first experience with data analytics in clinical research, my skills have grown tremendously; I will take this knowledge with me in whichever career path I choose.

Working on an interdisciplinary team with experts in public health, cognitive neuroscience, and data science during these 10 weeks has helped me explore my career options and interests. Through REU seminars and informational interviews, I networked with a wide range of professionals. Supported by the advisement of CIRP leadership, I have given much thought to where I see myself in the future. With increased exposure to professional growth opportunities, I have solidified my interest in pursuing a PhD in Clinical Psychology to become a pediatric clinical neuropsychologist."