Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Student (Summer 2021)

"This summer, I had the opportunity to participate in an internship with the Center for Injury Research and Prevention(CIRP). Through the program, I was able to be a part of research on two teams: the Head Impact Sensor team under Declan Patton, Colin Huber, Kristy Arbogast and Divya Jain, and the AHT Intervention team under Lauren O'Malley and Emma Sartin.

My work with the Head Impact Sensor team, part of the Minds Matter Concussion Program, consisted of cleaning data from impact summaries of lacrosse players who wore instrumented mouthguards during game play, and watching the video footage of the games to confirm head impacts. I successfully completed video analysis on a girls' lacrosse season (16 games) and through this experience learned the importance of patience and attention to detail in the data cleaning process.

On the AHT Intervention team, I aided in study visits in which parents and their children tested out a new chest-clip technology by Minnesota HealthSolutions. By running the study visits, I was able to have direct experience with human subjects, which I found valuable to my knowledge of the research process.

I came into the program looking for some experience after the pandemic had taken many opportunities away, and I am coming out of it a more poised colleague, a more well-rounded student, and a more confident leader. As I begin my senior year at Lehigh University, I know that my experience at CHOP has given me a base to be successful in my education and beyond."