“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my major or my minors going into junior year,” said Lauren Johnson of Tremont, Ill., a senior Biology student with a double minor in Chemistry and Global Public Health.
Johnson worked last summer at the Microbiology and Immunology Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) at the University of Iowa. “…because I did this program after I completed my junior year, right before senior year… After the completion of this program, I was set on doing research, and that’s what I wanted to do,” says Johnson.
Each student in the program worked individually with a professor in their lab. Johnson’s research program studies the role of capicua (CIC) in the TRIM22 promoter to look study how it relates to the transfer of diseases. It helps progress other projects researching vaccines and disease treatments.
“I’ve always been interested in infectious diseases, how they spread, how the immune system works,” said Johnson. “Immunity is so cool because, for everybody, it’s different. No matter if you have certain disorders or diseases, it’s different for anybody and everybody.”
Though she studies biology on the micro-level, Johnson recognizes her impact. “Whatever research it is, I know it’s gonna benefit some aspect of the community of medicine or the science community. Even though the research that I do seems small and so minuscule, it’s still helping other scientists and other microbiologists.”
Networking played a role in transitioning from the summer REU to post-graduation job opportunities. “I also was able to make other connections in the department, which is huge, specifically Jessica Tucker (Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Iowa). She told us at the end of the summer, if we’re interested, to email her and to stay in contact with her. Going into senior year, I didn’t think that I wanted to go to graduate school right away. I reached out to her in September of the fall semester, asked if she was still interested in having people work for her if there were still availabilities. She said yes and that she would be interested,” said Johnson.
Johnson’s college involvement includes numerous organizations and honor societies, including the Pre-Health Society, Mortar Board Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Delta, and Blue Key Honor Society. She worked as a student assistant and student supervisor at the Monmouth College COVID clinic and currently works as a lab tech in the Biology department’s lab.
Guest Writer - Anita Gándara