7/18

Yesterday I was able to finalize the master calendar with Jenn, Kailas, and Vijendra. The calendar will need to be maintained as new projects arise, but for now that task has been completed. I was also given the responsibility of preparing formulations for sample analysis with Sarala and Haritha's help. It was my first major lab assignment, and I enjoyed the work. 13 different sample preparations were needed, and I learned to multitask efficiently so that no time was wasted when pipetting, vortexing, heating, sonicating, and cooling the flasks before filtering the solutions.

(Just another selfie from the lab)

James, my mentor who helped me find this internship, stopped by Tergus for a visit on Tuesday. It was nice to finally meet him in person. Several months ago I tried securing an internship on my own by making cold calls and sending my resume to pharmaceutical consulting companies, and I wasn't having much luck. I called James and he told me that he couldn't offer me a position in his home-based company, but he had helped students find jobs in the past. He offered to help me too by providing contacts and websites that would direct me, and that's how I found this opportunity at Tergus.

For the past week, I have been helping Kailas with her chapter in a scientific publication by summarizing several IVRT-related articles. Some were difficult to comprehend, but I now have a slightly better understanding of these tests. Today Vijendra has given me the assignment of evaluating the Tergus Pharma website to identify changes that would make it more appealing to clients. We will also be discussing some of the marketing strategies I shared with Michael earlier.

                             The area of the lab where I perform            18 IVRTcells used to analyze release rate

                                             most of my experiments

7: How has this experience affected or changed your career/college plans?

Through this internship I am realizing that I enjoy lab work more that I initially thought I did. It's very different from the labs we did in class because at Tergus there is a practical purpose for each experiment. This exposure to the pharmaceutical industry has shown me one part of the field, and now I want to explore other careers in drug development so that I can compare my experiences and determine which aspects I love the most. I am still highly interested in biochemistry and business, and I have now realized that a solid foundation in science is equally as important as a foundation in business because a project manager who doesn't fully understand the industry she is working in cannot benefit the company as much. I still do not know exactly what career I want, but I am confident in my interests and I hope that they will lead me in the right direction.