Targeting Neuroinflammation

My name is Darta, and I am in Whitman College’s class of 2026. I am majoring in Brain, Behavior, and Cognition with a minor in Chemistry. The internship position that I have held this summer has been an incredible opportunity to explore neuroscience in an applicable setting, outside of the classroom. 

This summer, I have been working in the Gale lab at the University of Washington School of Medicine’s Department of Immunology in Seattle, WA. We are researching neuroinflammation in West Nile Virus infection. This is a huge problem for folks recovering from this illness, since after recovery from the initial infection, people often still have trouble with memory and acquisition of new information. We are experimenting with a treatment that might work to bring down the neuroinflammation and relieve these symptoms. 

To do this, we use mice as our model organism. We impose the treatment and the control on infected and non-infected mice and then conduct Barnes maze experiments to determine if the treatment has an impact on their learning. Because of the way our experiment is set up, I have spent a lot of time in the Department of Comparative Medicine. In all honesty, doing animal experiments has been a huge challenge for me. However, I have learned so much about myself through this experience and that alone is worth the effort of pushing through the difficult moments. 

Over the past few months, I have gained invaluable skills in experimental design, statistical analysis, translational research, and data presentation. In addition to these overarching competencies, I have learned many specific technical skills (how to independently conduct a Barnes maze, how to make a figure in GraphPad Prism, how to use obscure formulas in Excel, and how to analyze trials in ImageJ, to name a few). 

I have learned what it would be like to have a career in research, by talking with different kinds of researchers, conducting my own experiments, and spending time in a lab-setting. This internship has given me clarity about what my desires are in a future career. 

I am endlessly thankful to my mentor who has entrusted me with so much responsibility this summer, allowing me to grow and learn an immeasurable amount over the course of a few short months. I am also grateful to have received the Whitman Internship Grant, which enabled me to take advantage of this opportunity that would not have otherwise been an option for me.