As a senior major in the Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences Department at the University of New Hampshire, Hilary Snyder has found research a satisfying experience. Coming from Seekonk, Massachusetts, Snyder is a member of the University Honors Program. She received from UNH a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) in 2008 and an Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) grant in 2009, and intends on using her research to complete her honors thesis. Her future plans include becoming a physician, and although she does not plan on continuing to work on lutein transport, her research experience has taught her a lot about the trial–and–error nature of experimentation. While Snyder was familiar with Inquiry early on in her undergraduate career, it was her mentor, Dr. Curran-Celentano, who encouraged her to write an article for the journal. According to Snyder, both conducting research and writing about it has been rewarding and useful for her future endeavors: “Medicine is so deeply reliant on research. I know that I will always be involved in research in some way, whether it is assisting in the writing of a grant, advising a committee, or helping to run a clinical trial.”
A frequent mentor to students doing research articles for Inquiry, Dr. Joanne Curran–Celentano was well prepared to help Hilary Snyder with her research on age–related macular degeneration. Dr. Celentano has been a tenure track faculty member at the University of New Hampshire since 1986 and is a professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Biomedical Sciences. Her area of specialization is the nutritional sciences. As Dr. Celentano explained, “the research project that Hilary is completing is part of a larger effort to determine factors that influence the uptake and distribution of dietary carotenoids in tissue.” In addition to helping Snyder in her research, Dr. Celentano has actively participated in the revision process for Snyder’s Inquiry article. In Dr. Celentano’s eyes, Snyder’s research project “has been significant in her career progress and reflects very well on her commitment to studying medicine.”
Read Hilary Snyder’s article An Experience in the Challenges of Research: Prevention of Age–Related Macular Degeneration >>
