The End of an Era by Hannah Tong

Hello and welcome back to the third and final installment of Hannah’s TRIP adventures! In all seriousness, I can’t believe how fast these last few months have gone by, it's been a whirlwind of new experiences and TRIP has definitely kept me busy (in a good way)! I originally applied to TRIP to learn more about the research field as I felt that school– while a great introduction to science and experimentation –was always too structured and didn’t allow me to pursue topics I was truly curious about. TRIP not only helped me meet my research goals but went above and beyond! I’ve gotten to meet some truly passionate people and learn about their research as well as pick up many helpful skills like data analysis and how to communicate my research effectively.

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​Since the last blog post I’ve been working on my independent project about the impact of diet on cognitive function. Growing up my mom would always tell me to eat a big bowl of noodles on the mornings before tests, while I’m pretty sure that’s more superstition than fact based it did spark the idea to test different macromolecules (protein and carbohydrates in my experiment) on memory and learning. To do this I performed a larvae memory assay, which, to summarize very quickly, involved me training 10-15 larvae to associate the smell of bananas to sugar and the smell of pineapple to no sugar. They are then placed on a test plate with the smell of banana on one side and the smell of pineapple on the other and are recorded for 5 minutes to see how many larvae are on each side of the plate by the end. Larvae are very food-driven, meaning if they are able to learn that bananas = sugar they will go to the banana side of the plate. The instructors definitely weren’t lying when they said that this assay would take a long time, I didn’t even finish my experiment on the first day but by week 2-3 I got pretty good at it (The trick is to basically set up the whole thing ahead of time so everythings easy to grab)! Overall, I got pretty good results and I can’t wait to share what I found at the final symposium this weekend! ​

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​I’m so grateful to have been a part of the TRIP’25 cohort, I’ve learned so much about lab procedures, different assays, working with flies, and more! If you’re reading this as a fellow STEM student I would 100% encourage you to apply to TRIP! This program has taught me so much about my interests and has given me a glimpse into what I can look forward to in the future. A HUMONGOUS thank you to my instructors Dr. Austria, Dr. Valdes, Dr. Purdy and Mr. Cozzone as well as my wonderful TA’s Martie, Phoebe, and Amritha! Another thanks to Fox Chase Cancer Center and William Tennent High School for making this program possible. I’m going to miss spending Saturdays in the lab, but I also can’t wait to see what the future holds!

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