ALESSANDRA PETERS
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA Supervisor: Professor Elizabeth M. Nolan
Second year undergraduate, MBiochem Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Lady Margaret Hall
RESEARCH PROJECT
My project was about overcoming multidrug antibiotic resistance. Socalled 'superbugs' which cause infections that are resistant to antibiotic treatment are on the rise, and this necessitates the development of strategies to efficiently target antibiotic delivery. I studied a specific new antibiotic called Cefiderocol which acts as a Trojan horse and 'tricks' bacteria into taking it up, as there is a chemical group combined with the antibiotic, and this additional group is recognized by specific outer membrane receptors of the bacteria to encourage bacteria to take it up. The project involved assessing the purity and composition of the compound, then testing its efficacy on several different bacterial strains and finally attempts to optimise its entry by combination assays with various transition metal ions. I received support from the Principal Investigator of my lab, Liz Nolan, who is a Professor of Chemistry at MIT, and also from a post-doc in the lab who was overseeing my day-to-day work. Each week, I presented my progress at a Lab Group meeting to get input and advice from other lab members, and this was a great opportunity to learn more about the field in general.
DAILY LIFE
I absolutely loved living in Boston, in the Back Bay area. I biked to work over the beautiful Charles River every morning, and as a visiting student I had access to all of MIT's sports centres so I'd often go to the gym or for a run in the mornings before work. My schedule was roughly 8-6 in the lab, but there was a lot of freedom with this and I could plan my experiments around anything I wanted to do - this gave me lots of freedom to go travelling over the weekends which was an amazing opportunity! I was able to go to New York, DC, Vermont, Cape Cod, and Montreal. I met lots of people at the shared accommodation where I lived and in the evenings we'd go to concerts in the park, or an outdoor movie night at the Museum of Fine Art. I went to baseball games, went whale watching, and learnt to sail on the weekends I was in Boston. I also met up with a couple of fellow Laidlaw Scholars who were around Boston for lunch during the week, and we even went rock climbing all together one evening after work!
LEADERSHIP
In the middle of Hilary term, we all went on a weekend away to kick off our leadership sessions which really gave me an insight into how the training was organised - there was a lot of group work, and it was very interactive which was great. We were encouraged to apply the knowledge and learning to our own experiences which has proved incredibly useful for internship interview questions!
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We also had a full week of training during the Easter vac which was a great opportunity to bond with everyone, and in addition to leadership knowledge I learnt a lot about myself and my personal strengths and points I'm working to improve. Writing the essays really reinforced that knowledge gained, and because I completed them during my project when I had experiments running, it meant I was often directly applying the knowledge to my project. I'm absolutely sure that the skills will come in useful – I already find myself applying them in almost everything!
LASTING IMPRESSIONS
Thanks to Laidlaw, I had the best summer of my life! I loved exploring Boston and being able to travel around the US, and MIT was such an inspiring place to work. Although the teaching and supervision was different to what I had experienced at Oxford, I was able to really engage with the professors and students there and was immediately given opportunities to present my work to them and to other members of the department, which was invaluable. My work over the summer led to an offer to come back to MIT in future which I am certainly considering! Going into the summer, I wasn't sure whether I wanted a career in research or academia and wasn't particularly excited about my time in the lab, but once I got started I found that I absolutely loved it. The experience has completely changed my career ambitions, and now I'm aiming to do a PhD and continue my career in research.
IMPACT
The Laidlaw Programme has been absolutely life-changing. It has been a truly invaluable learning experience, and I know it will both greatly enrich and be an incredible highlight of my time at Oxford. The financial support offered meant I was able to focus fully on the project, make the most of my time in Boston and develop very valuable connections with colleagues. It has made me reconsider my future directions, and the leadership aspect has been incredibly enriching. The training week in particular, and the completion of the leadership essays during the process of achieving an ILM Level 3 Leadership award, gave me a great insight into a wide range of leadership styles, and the feedback I received through completing the assignments helped me learn an incredible amount about myself, my strengths and what skills I can improve. I really can't put into words how wonderful the experience has been; if you're even vaguely thinking about exploring research or academia, and want to learn how to propel your leadership potential at the same time, this is the way to do it!