Perspectives On The Graduate School Journey

Hannah Thompson First Year Graduate Student, Molecular & Integrative Physiology; Jess Maung Second Year Graduate Student, Molecular & Integrative Physiology; Edith Jones Kiyabu Sixth Year Graduate Student, Molecular & Integrative Physiology

Since 1882, the Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology (MIP) has successfully trained over 250 students. These students have gone on into a diverse range of positions such as academia, industry, communication and more. As the #2 NIH funded program in Physiology, students are afforded an abundance of resources and training facilities. Furthermore, graduate students are trained and mentored by distinguished alumni such as Drs. Dan Michele, Sue Moenter and Elizabeth Rust who were classmates themselves, and alum Sue Brooks. Each graduate student undergoes a unique journey that includes lab rotations, passing the preliminary exam and ending with a dissertation defense. Here are some snapshots of students in each stage of their journey!

It’s hard to believe that it has been almost a year since I arrived in Ann Arbor! While this year has been filled with its fair amount of struggles and successes, I am so incredibly grateful to have started this journey in the department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology. Having worked as a full-time research assistant in Minneapolis before pursuing graduate school in Ann Arbor, I was unsure how well I’d fare in a graduate school setting where I’d have to balance rigorous coursework on top of lab work. However, I was also excited by the massive amount of research opportunities and labs available to rotate in (eight week experiences in a lab before selecting a thesis lab) in. I remember

how energized I felt after my first day of classes and lab, though these feelings would often come and go as I got deeper into the fall semester. There were days where it felt like leaving the program all together was the best option, however, with the support of loved ones and the program, I decided to stay and I am so grateful I made that decision! The support of Molecular & Integrative Physiology and all of its students are incredible and I think of the department as my second “home”. I have been fortunate to start my graduate career with a brilliant cohort that has pushed and challenged me to grow everyday and upperclassmen who are always willing to extend a helping hand. As I attend student seminars and attend classes, I am absolutely humbled that I get to start my training in the presence of scientists who I truly believe will change the world.

The opportunities that the University of Michigan and Molecular & Integrative Physiology have been indelible. In the short time here I have grown beyond my expectations as a scientist and I look forward to choosing a thesis lab, becoming a doctoral candidate, working towards my professional dreams and making our department proud. Go Blue!

The process of choosing a lab and settling into my research was super exciting for me – after a year of rotations, I finally found my home for the rest of my time at the University of Michigan. However, I had one more hurdle to overcome before diving headfirst into my thesis project and into my second year of graduate school: the preliminary exam. Passing the preliminary exam, or “prelims,” is required to advance to candidacy within the Molecular & Integrative Physiology graduate program. Prelims consists of two parts: the first, writing a proposal about a research project, often one’s thesis work, and the second, presenting and defending your project while demonstrating your fundamental knowledge of physiology and techniques. It is the ultimate test of real-time problem solving, putting one’s critical thinking skills to the test as you navigate a committee of faculty members that ask detailed and thought-provoking questions. Among graduate students, the preliminary exam, also known as “prelims,” is feared and anxiety-provoking. Technically, one’s continuation in the graduate program is contingent on passing prelims. However, professionally and personally, passing prelims is a huge accomplishment for oneself; it also gives helpful guidance and input for your future project going forward. Other MIP graduate students gave me great insight into what the prelim process is like and encouraged me to persevere through the process, reassuring me that it wouldn’t be as daunting as I had made it out to be. I am grateful for the support from the department and from my fellow cohort members for helping me prepare.

The day I passed my (virtual) preliminary exam was fantastic: my lab surprised me with a bottle of champagne and I took a long afternoon nap. Overcoming this huge academic hurdle helped me feel more confident and prepared to tackle the next chapter of graduate school. The second year of my PhD has been full of ups and downs, including being the first to discover something exciting while I’m on the microscope, juxtaposed with not receiving grants and awards I’ve spent countless hours applying for. I look forward to the next few years of my PhD as I tackle novel scientific questions, connect with the warm community around me, enjoy pub nights with MIP graduate students, and make memories in Ann Arbor.

Time has flown by so fast since I first started in MIP, I can hardly believe I’m close to finishing this chapter! My grad school journey took some unexpected turns, providing multiple experiences and opportunities for both personal and professional growth. In grad school missing my family in Texas was one of my biggest challenges and without their prayers, unconditional love and support I could not have made it this far, MIP has likewise been extremely supportive through this journey, and I have enjoyed the department’s collaborative environment. The Beard lab has provided the infrastructure and direction required to pursue my thesis work combining both classical biochemistry techniques with computational modeling to understand the metabolic and mechanical aspects of heart failure with the support from the Systems & Integrative Biology and F31 NIH heart and lung institute grants. Besides

pursuing my graduate work I got to participate in several diverse experiences such as the Summer School in Computational Cardiac Physiology hosted by the Simula Research Institute in Oslo, Norway in collaboration with the University of California, San Diego, fostered my interests in innovation and entrepreneurship including participating in the Sanger Leadership Center Graduate Leadership Crisis Challenge, the Research Innovation Scholarship Education (RISE) Advisory Council at Michigan Medicine and in the Fast Forward Medical Innovation (FFMI) fastPACE. As a native Spanish speaker, I volunteered with Filter of Hope and University of Michigan-Gradcru aiding in installing purification water filters in communities without clean water access and as a Spanish-English translator during Spring Break of 2019 in Havana, Cuba as well as serve as a medical translator for a COVID-19 clinical trial at UM.

On a more personal note, life took quite an unexpected turn in the summer of 2019 when I found myself homeless and destitute. That’s right, I was in between leases and needed a place to live for a month. After not being able to find any leads a family from church graciously offered to host me but they lived in Saline, Michigan about 30 minutes away from NCRC where the Beard Lab is. Not a bad commute but… I didn’t have a car! When I found out there was a mechanical engineering grad student in my Bible study group that lived in Saline and commuted everyday to North Campus, the little gray cells began thinking: He can be my ride to the lab! Little did I know I’d be marrying this man in the summer of 2021! Moral of the story: beware of being homeless and destitute and taking rides with eligible young bachelors. As newlyweds we are trying to wrap up grad school and figure out next steps. I suppose we have a ‘two-body’ problem, a ‘good’ type of problem that in all honesty I never sought or thought I would have at the end of grad school. We are still discerning next steps, but we are leaning into pursuing academic postdocs. This decision-making process is new to us and can sometimes feel like a daunting process as we are learning how to approach it as a couple and early career scientists, but we both want the best for the other and are excited to start the next chapter whatever it looks like with our best friend by our side.

Graduate school can be a difficult but rewarding journey. From choosing a lab, to applying for grants, to navigating thesis committee meetings, to defending your dissertation, Molecular & Integrative Physiology has a supportive environment that will be there with you every step of the way. To graduate with a PhD from MIP is a badge of honor. Mirroring our previous alumni such as Drs. Michele, Moenter , Brooks and Rust, we look forward to successful careers where we can represent the excellence of MIP and wear our badges proudly.