Curious about how everyday scientific lab work contributes to the future of public health and medicine? This panel highlights four students' biological research lab experiences, and explores how their benchwork is driven by broader questions surrounding major health threats such as breast cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, vector-borne diseases, and radiation-induced cancer. Though we contributed to different projects, we have a common passion for benefiting the greater health landscape. While our research shaped both our personal development and career exploration, it simultaneously contributed to the wider field of medical sciences. Having found ourselves immersed in both the concrete objectivity of science and the ever-changing political environment that surrounds its pursuit, we often overlook the decades of lab work that's gotten us here. It has become increasingly important that we continue to spread awareness on the need for basic science research as it steps in and out of the spotlight.

Moderator: Meghan Kelly, Senior Laboratory Instructor

Presenters:

• Hailey Brooks '27 Biology/Computer Science
• Hailey Reed '25 Biological Sciences/Chemistry
• Alexis Toomey '26 Neuroscience & Behavior/Chemistry
• Sabella Riccio '27 Biology/Italian