NCCC Success Story

Hometown
Lakewood, NY

Degree programs
Mechanical Engineering Technology

Year of graduation
2019

Place of employment
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

Job Title
Visiting Researcher

Work Responsibilities
I worked in the area of cardiac stem cells taken directly from patients with heart issues. I independently carried out experiments, applying mechanical effects to my culture to mimic the natural stress on the human heart. This actually helps cells mature as they would in a real heart and provides insight into future cardiac transplantation and healing post-cardiac failure. Responsibilities included maintaining several tissue culture experiments and characterizing how cells remodel due to stress. 

How my career relates to my degree from RIT/NTID
RIT/NTID gave me many opportunities, not just the privilege of an education. One particular example is the NTID research fund for conferences and independent projects, which helped me gain materials for my first research team, paving the way for even bigger career opportunities.

Advice
Do several co-ops. That allowed me to grow from a research assistant to more of a fully independent researcher aiming for a Ph.D. with the goal of making an enormous impact.