Danielle C
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at Duke University
Expertise
immunology, neurodevelopmental/neurodegenerative disorders, neuroscience, genetics, cell biology, microbiology, gene therapy
Bio
I am research scientist at Duke University and I study how the immune system interacts with the brain to affect our behavior, and what happens when those interactions go wrong. I love studying the immune system because it blows my mind how complex it is and how it is working non-stop to keep us healthy! I'm also very interested science policy, and how science is used to inform how laws and policies are formed. When I'm not doing science, I like to bake, go rock climbing, and spend time at the beach! I love hanging out with my friends and my cat, Dory!Project ideas
Sickness behavior: How our immune system can change the way we feel
Have you ever had a cold and felt just awful? Have you ever gotten a vaccine and felt tired and sluggish afterwards? This is called 'sickness behavior', and it is actually caused by our immune systems, not the cold or the vaccine! In this project, we can learn more about how the immune system interacts with the brain and nervous system to cause sickness behavior. We can read up on the current scientific literature that has been published, compile our findings, and synthesize the knowledge into a comprehensive literature review. For this literature review, you have the opportunity to take all of the existing knowledge about sickness behavior, and write it up so it is easy to find and understand in one paper. You also have the opportunity to use your creativity and artistic skills to create original figures and diagrams which summarize the big concepts covered in the literature review.
Make your voice heard! Submit a comment on a proposed rule in the Federal Register
Did you know that you can have a say in how and if new executive orders and federal regulations go into effect? Every day, new rules and regulations are published on the Federal Register. This is a government website where the public (you!) can access all of the information about new rulings before they go into effect, and you even have the chance to submit a comment on the rulings that government officials will read. In these comments, you can voice your approval, disapproval, or how you would like to see the ruling changed before it goes into effect. This is a super important way for your voice to be heard, and it is especially important for government officials to hear from scientists (like you!) before finalizing rules that affect science. In this project, we could learn more about how the Federal Register works, read up on some proposed rules that involve science (ex: rulings that affect the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), drug prices/accessibility, etc.). Then, we could choose a proposed rule that interests you, do some research to investigate the science behind the rule and determine how that rule would affect us (ex: if a rule proposes to cut funding from the EPA, how would that affect climate change in the US?). Finally, we will write up all of our research and officially submit your comment to the Federal Register for government officials to read and take into account before they approve the rule!
