Hong Kong University

👨🏻‍🔧 Was here between July 2019 to August 2019 at University of Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

At the University of Hong Kong, I had the chance to work with Dr. Cheung’s Lab to investigate biomarkers for osteoporosis. This was my first experience working in an academic lab so the work and my role was relatively small, but I still enjoyed the time I spent here.

My Work.

The main goal of my internship here was to investigate potential biomarkers for osteoporosis. To do this, I was tasked to analyze osteoblast samples with Carnosine or N-acetyl cysteine using RT-qPCR. After analyzing many different genes, we identified a couple of genes that were upregulated in response to the treatment (IBSP, COL1A1, HPRT, RUNX2, etc.).

Quick Summary of Developed Lab Skills:

• RNA Isolation
• cDNA Synthesis
• qPCR

Conclusion

This was my first experience in research which helped me realize a couple things about myself. Firstly, I think I really appreciated understanding the start-to-end process of developing samples, obtaining data, and analyzing data. Secondly, I appreciate the labs emphasis on collaborative work, as well as effective communication with each other. These two skills I still employ today when working with others and making my notes. Finally, I believe this was the start of my passion of data analysis and statistics, where I have continued to expand my skills in biological data sample analysis.