Rebecca was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, but raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. After graduating high school, Rebecca was accepted into Tulane’s Accelerated Physician Training Program (TAP-TP). In her last year of undergraduate studies, Rebecca discovered her love of immunology and began interning with Dr. James McLachlan’s immunology lab before joining Tulane Medical School. She enjoyed lab work so much she came back for more, and she is now an MD/PhD student in the lab. In her PhD, Rebecca decided to pursue a multidisciplinary project researching the effects of comorbidities on vaccine efficacy, and found an apt co-mentor in Dr. Heddwen Brooks. Rebecca is very excited to be a part of the #KUHmmunity.
Q: What advice would you give to undergraduate scholars who want to get more experience with research?
A: My best advice is not to be afraid to put yourself out there! As an undergraduate researcher, I often feared entering spaces or taking risks because I thought I wouldn’t be “good enough.” For my experience, in the various graduate spaces that I’ve worked in, nobody is going to think less of you for not knowing things when you first start out. Talk to your professors, email folks whose research you are interested in, and don’t let impostor syndrome hold you back! Your only job is to immerse yourself and learn.
Q: What thought/philosophy/principle has helped you during difficult times?
A: When an experiment is not working, I like to think about the science itself. We are investigators trying to find out a deeper truth about the world around us, and that is beautiful, no matter how many Western blots I mess up on the way there.
Q: What is one thing you wish you could tell your younger self about academia/research/life in general?
A: Something I wish I could tell my younger self is to think about my project in the context of other disciplines! I became fascinated with immunology as an undergraduate and didn’t pay much attention to work in other sciences until my PhD. I now have a very interesting multidisciplinary project and novel perspectives that never would have come to fruition if I hadn’t learned and interacted more with concepts in physiology and other fields of study.