 Time really does “fly” when you are having fun. It’s been twelve weeks since my first day in the TRIP lab, and I have nothing but positive words to describe my time in this program. Over the past two months, I have gained invaluable skills. In the lab, I learned a myriad of skills ranging from creating drug stocks to performing assays on my fruit flies. Outside the lab, I learned the most effective way to turn numbers into meaningful results and how to communicate these findings at a research symposium. I learned to manage my time efficiently. (There was A LOT of talking in the TRIP lab, so I had to learn how to ensure I finish my work on time as well). Most importantly, I learned to never stop being curious about the world around me and to seek out answers myself when the world provides none.
I am happy to report that my project went (mostly) successfully. I faced a few hiccups along the way, but with each challenge I faced, I fell further in love with research. Initially, I struggled with the negative geotaxis assay because sorting on ice affected the flies’ ability to move in the testing chamber. However, after some problem-solving, I found a solution: I set up my testing vial as soon as I got in the lab so the flies would be ready by the end of the day. From here, I thought it would be smooth sailing through my project, but I faced another issue. One day I did not finish collecting developmental data in class, so I took my vials home to continue. However, I did not account for the temperature of my house and how it is significantly colder than the William Tennet environment. This slowed the growth of my flies, so when I went to perform my larval locomotion assay the following class, the flies had not reached the larvae phase yet. Ultimately, I had to scrap that week’s data, but luckily I still had four other trials to refer to. These challenges pushed me to find new solutions and showed me the reality of scientific research. This program has been, without a doubt, one of the most memorable experiences of my high school career. Once again, thank you to everyone who helped me get to where I am now! Cheers to such a bittersweet ending (I am definitely not shedding a few tears while writing this)! Your favorite Session B yapper is officially signing out… 
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 Hi there, thanks for following along my journey with TRIP these past 3 months! I’m sad to say that my time in the TRIP lab has ended, but there is so much I learned throughout this experience that I get to carry on to college and beyond! Through the weeks, I sorted flies, created fly food, and ran my assays- and I truly enjoyed all the aspects of it. We just wrapped up our final symposiums this past weekend, and it was rewarding to be able to share my research with my family, friends and fellow peers and to see the amazing work my labmates did!  Since the last time I updated you all on my experiment, there have been quite the changes and challenges. I had previously mentioned that I was testing the effects of intermittent fasting and Benadryl on memory, but had to quickly change my plan after some hurdles with running my assay. I continued on the path of testing intermittent fasting and Benadryl, but switched over to looking at activity levels and fertility! I ran the Negative Geotaxis Assay, and collected data on percent eclosion and found that although fasting did decrease energy, it had a positive effect on the fertility of the fasted adults! Reflecting on this, I am grateful to have experienced the hurdles with my experiment. It not only allowed me to fully understand that setbacks are a normal part of working in research, but to experience the rewarding feeling of tackling the setbacks! Looking back, I am truly going to miss my early Saturday mornings in the lab working with the fruit flies! I am incredibly thankful for the experience I had and the wonderful instructors, Dr. Leystra, Dr. Purdy, Dr. Valdes and Mr. Cozzone, along with the awesome TA’s Anoosha and Niki. I am so grateful to have had the chance to work with like-minded individuals and make amazing friends along the way! The experience I gained with designing and conducting an experiment that truly interested me is incredibly valuable; thank you to William Tennent High School and Fox Chase Cancer Center for this opportunity. Lastly, a huge thank you to you, the reader, for following along my journey these past weeks, I can’t wait for the next trip I’ll take!
 Hi again! I’m so happy you’ve joined me for my third and final blog post. These past 11 weeks have flown by quicker than I ever could have imagined. This experience has taught me more than I could have ever imagined. From micro pipetting to learning to sort flies on ice (even if I lost quite a few flies in the process).  My independent project, where I tested the effects of NSAIDs on general health has concluded. I was initially interested in this topic due to the widespread use and level of accessibility of NSAIDs. On top of some dangerous and unexpected side effects, some previous research showed that NSAIDs had led to possible disruption of female ovulation. In a way, I found this ironic as a lot of women take NSAIDs to help with the pain that comes with a menstrual cycle. I used the ibuprofen as my form of NSAID. To quantify ibuprofen’s effect on health, I set up four vials. The only thing that varied from vial to vial was the liquid solution used to hydrate the dry fly food mix. My control was hydrated with just water and my second vial was (taking into account the weight difference between a fruit fly and a human, the number of flies in the vial, and the weeks the flies had to stay in the vial) hydrated with a solution equivalent to 200mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours, my second vial with a solution equivalent to 400mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours, and my fourth vial was hydrated with a solution equivalent to 2000mg of ibuprofen every 6 hours. I looked at three main aspects of health; developmental health, female fertility, and pain sensitivity.  I quantified developmental health by looking at the number of total pupae and the percent of the pupal cases that eclosed in a 21 day period. In observing this, I would be able to see the level of success the flies had transitioning from larvae to pupae to adults. I quantified female fertility by looking at the average number of embryos laid per female in each vial over a 2-hour incubation period. Finally, I observed pain sensitivity by looking at the flies' reaction to extreme heat. Throughout 5 trials, it has become clear that as ibuprofen doses increase, female fertility decreases. Luckily, I concluded that ibuprofen doesn’t harm developmental health nor does it hinder the ability to sense pain. In the future, I would like to work with higher doses of NSAIDs or look at other stages of development. Although I’ve learned a lot from the lab, I’ve also learned so much from the bonds I’ve made. I’ve had some of the funniest and most interesting conversations with my fellow TRIP-mates, instructors, and TAs. I realize now that I’ve taken those Saturday morning conversations (or as my session called it, “yap-fests”) for granted, and although it sounds sappy, I’ll genuinely miss them these coming Saturdays. I’d like to specifically thank my instructors, Dr. Leystra and Mr. Cozzone, for putting my experiment into action, Dr. Valdes for her constant warmth and support, Dr. Purdy for improving my final symposium presentation exponentially, my TAs for always listening to what I have to say, Fox Chase Cancer Center for providing me with this opportunity, William Tennent High School for providing a place to carry out these experiments, and last but certainly not least, my fellow TRIP mates for always keeping my spirits high in the lab! I’ve been SO fortunate to be in the presence of these talented and intelligent people, and I can’t wait to see where the future takes all of us!  And of course, thank YOU for reading about my “TRIP” through these blogs. Although this one is my last, rest assured that my “TRIP” in exploring the world of science will continue for much longer!
I focused my independent project on the impact caffeine consumption has on anxiety. To test this, I set up four vials, which consisted of a control and three different concentrations of caffeine. After letting the flies live in these vials for a week, I conducted the open field test to measure anxiety in the flies. I did 4 repetitions of this and averaged the data. From that, I was able to conclude that caffeine does cause an increase in anxiety. In addition to discovering the impact caffeine has on anxiety, I also collected developmental data and found that caffeine consumption reduces health and has a negative impact on development. With this being said, I also had many setbacks while running my experiments. I found myself unable to collect all of my desired data some days because of external factors and accidentally poisoned a vial of flies with caffeine (oops). It was due to the supportive TRIP environment built by the instructors, TAs, and my labmates that encouraged me to persist even when I faced challenges.
I am incredibly grateful for everything I’ve learned from TRIP and can’t wait to see how this experience will lead me in the future! Well, that was the TRIP of a lifetime. These last 3 months have been so eventful and it has been so exciting to watch myself and my fellow lab mates grow in the realm of research. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the entire research process and seeing the results of my hard work. My independent project was focused on looking at the effects of diet on overall health of the flies, specifically fertility and development.  To do so, I first used a gut microbiome assay, which, in my opinion, is one the most fun assays to perform. In this assay, I crushed up flies and examined their microbiome by incubating this crushed fly mixture on an agar plate. The results were so cool and I could clearly see how my two conditions, probiotic and potato chip, differed greatly. The next assay I used was a female fertility assay, through which I counted embryos and analyzed the data accordingly. Even though these assays might seem simple and straightforward I learned that everything doesn’t end the way I plan for it to. I encountered many challenges during my time at TRIP, but I also learned how to navigate these challenges in order to obtain results. I learned that practice makes perfect, as the more I performed my assay, the better I got at it and the easier it became for me. Presenting my data and conclusions at the final symposium was the best reward for all of my hard work as I was able to communicate the implications of my research and present it to family, friends, peers, and mentors. TRIP truly allowed me to learn more about myself as a researcher and make lasting friendships. Thank you so much to Dr. Purdy for this opportunity, Dr. Leystra for being a patient and supportive instructor, Mr. Cozzone for always making me laugh, and our TAs Niki and Anoosha for your enthusiasm; I could not have had such an enjoyable learning experience. I am ever so grateful for this amazing opportunity, and I am so excited for what this opportunity will bring me for my future! Signing off- Shloka
Since the last time I wrote, I tweaked my independent project! Originally, I wanted to look at the effects of epinephrine on female fertility, but I decided to add its impact on motility and activity to get a greater idea of the drug’s impact on the overall health of the fly. I did this by incorporating the negative geotaxis assay on the F1 offspring in each of the conditions. These offspring have lived their entire lives with the increased levels of epinephrine, so it would convey the impacts of long-term exposure.  Week by week, I set up and tested 4 vials: a control, a 0.1x dose of Epi-Pen, a 1x dose of Epi-Pen, and a 10x dose of Epi-Pen. Throughout the six weeks, I was able to rack up 20 vials of flies! Using the female fertility assay, I measured the number of progeny produced per female, but I was unable to see a distinct pattern. Luckily, over the course of 3 replications, my negative geotaxis assay saw a distinct downward trend in activity as more epinephrine was added. I also took developmental data, and especially looked at the percent eclosion for each of my experimental conditions. I was surprised to see that there was also a direct correlation between the amount of epinephrine and their ability to eclose! Long term exposure to epinephrine did not just negatively impact their activity, but their overall health and developmental cycle. This data shows that exposure to epinephrine, thus stress, can negatively impact many biological processes of fruit flies and humans alike. During the entire process, I had to learn how to adapt and become more efficient with my time and materials. In the beginning, it took me almost an hour to prepare the fly vials, but by the end it took less than half! This experience was easily the highlight of my junior year in high school, and I will remember it for the rest of my life. I just wish it was longer! Thank you to the TAs Niki and Anoosha for teaching me assays and always brightening the mood. I especially want to thank Dr. Leystra, Dr. Purdy, and Dr. Valdés for walking me through the entire program and teaching me how to think like a scientist. This really was a TRIP I will not forget about!
It’s hard to believe that my TRIP journey has come to an end. After presenting my research at the symposium and saying goodbye to my labmates, I'm excited to share my research on my final blog.
For my independent project I choose to look at the effects of the anti-stress drug, Ashwagandha, on fruit fly stresses. Ashwagandha is a plant-based supplement found in parts of Africa, India and the Middle East, and has anti-stress properties. As a three season athlete I often struggle to get a goodnight’s sleep. For my project I decided to stress my flies by sleep depriving them. I wanted to test the effects of sleep deprivation on both short and long term stresses so I chose to investigate the effects on both anxiety and depression.  Although 12 weeks ago I dreaded having to wake up early to conduct my assays, I will miss the morning conversations with my lab mates. The opportunities and doors that have opened through this program are incredible. Not only have I gained hands-on lab experience, but I am also a more confident scientist. I’d like to thank Dr. Leystra, Dr. Valdes and Mr. Cozzone for helping me conduct my assays, conduct calculations, and understand my data. I’d also like to thank my TA’s Anoosha and Niki as well as my labmates for making the experience so much fun. Thank you!
As I write this blog, I am already feeling the nostalgia of sorting flies while chatting on a Saturday morning. Often, we would forget the number we were on while counting, so we would have to redo it again. When I joined TRIP, I did not realize how much joy this program would bring me. I truly cherish the times I got to share my ideas and thoughts with my TRIP-mates. It is officially over, but I would love to come back to help out in the future.   Not only did I build new friendships, but I also learned many aspects of science along the way. Prior to this program, I had not been in a lab before, so I was very curious about the basics of using lab equipment. Although I had difficulty getting used to new concepts in the beginning, I appreciate the outcome that it brought me. By the end of my experiment, I was an expert in my topic and I was excited to share my research with others. I remember when I applied to this program, I had emphasized the importance of scientists sharing their knowledge. TRIP provided me with that exact opportunity and I’m proud to say I have reached that goal. For my independent project, I studied the effects of ginger on cognitive function, specifically our ability to think and retain information
Then, they will be put into a testing plate and timed for a minimum of 5 minutes. However, this time may not be enough for them to fully recognize the scents, so you would have to analyze their movements on a time lapse before making a solid conclusion. At the end, I saw distinct differences between the ginger and the stressor (benadryl) in the associative learning of flies. The end of TRIP was memorable and I have learned life and lab skills. My appreciation goes towards my wonderful instructors and teachers; Dr. Leystra Dr. Purdy, Dr. Valdes, and Mr. Cozzone who all helped me figure out my path and guided me through the process. With the knowledge that I obtained in this program, I hope to use it for future studies and research opportunities. I’m already thinking of new ideas to experiment with. This time, I’ve got a better sense of how to conduct it.
As I think back on the past semester and my time in TRIP, I want to start off by thanking Dr. Leystra, Dr. Purdy, Mr. Cozzone, Dr. Valdes, teaching assistants Niki and Anoosha, and my TRIP peers for making my time in the lab so incredible! I learned so much, appreciated everybody’s willingness to help, answer my questions, and provide feedback on my work, and enjoyed all our lab conversations! With the knowledge I acquired and the people I met, I know that TRIP has been an invaluable experience. As I write, it is the Monday after my final presentation, but, though it may sound strange, I already miss seeing the assignments on Google Classroom, filling out a weekly plan, and organizing data. I remember having trouble settling on an independent project idea—I had so many! If you checked out my last blog, I mentioned that I was thinking about testing the generational effects of different brands of a vitamin on the flies. Well, that plan certainly changed. I envisioned a project that would be, in some way or another, tied into public health, metabolism, and/or development—areas that I am interested in learning more about and pursuing. So, I ended up looking at the effects of sleep deprivation on progeny/larval health; specifically, I looked at glucose levels and larval activity. I also observed if vitamin B6, which has a role in both melatonin synthesis/ circadian rhythm control and metabolism, could reverse potential negative effects of the sleep deprivation. Prior to starting my experiment, I researched statistics regarding sleep deprivation’s impact on metabolism and also the impacts of maternal sleep deprivation on offspring, given that I was sleep depriving the adults and testing their larvae.  My results were interesting; over an average of four replicates (with 10-15 larvae in each), I found that glucose levels in the sleep deprived flies dropped very slightly compared to the control. In terms of activity, I used a locomotion assay in which I scooped several larvae per condition out of their food and recorded the movement of 5 of them over a one-minute period; I then counted the number of contractions, or little steps, that each larvae made. Over three trials, the averages showed a significant decrease in activity for the sleep-deprived flies; adding B6 to sleep-deprived vials brought the levels up, but not nearly to the point of having activity comparable to the control.
As I read through TRIP blogs fro previous students, I noticed that many students remarked how quickly the program had gone by. I did not understand how true that would be—I cannot believe that it has been three months since I stepped into William Tennent High School for the first time and met so many wonderful people! Thank you again to everybody who has made this opportunity possible.
I can’t believe my experience at TRIP is already over. The past weeks have flown by! I have learned so much from this experience about science, research, and about myself. I am so grateful to have been part of this program and to have made so many friends along the way!  For my research, I wanted to focus on the effects of the food we eat and our sleep patterns on anxiety. I also wanted to test the differences between males and females. To see these effects, I had to learn to sort flies, set up food vials, use micropipettes, make agar plates, and conduct the open field assay to determine the fly’s anxiety levels. Through this experience, I have gained presenting skills, critical thinking skills, and much more that can help me with my career, personal life, at school, and in labs. Based on my experiments, I concluded that the combination of disrupted circadian rhythms and Vitamin B6 can decrease male anxiety, and may increase female anxiety. These results were definitely not what I was expecting, which makes it even more interesting! Presenting my findings at the final symposium was very exciting, and I loved seeing everyone’s experiments and results! For my research, I wanted to focus on the effects of the food we eat and our sleep patterns on anxiety It’s hard to believe I will no longer be spending every Saturday with my fellow lab mates conducting our experiments. I would love to take this opportunity to thank everyone who made this experience possible, including Dr. Purdy, Dr. Leystra, all the TAs, Fox Chase Cancer Center, William Tennent High School, all my friends, and most importantly, the flies! I can’t wait to see what the future holds for all of us!
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