易胜博官网

When Dianne Moschitta 鈥�22 felt she had outgrown the career opportunities in her hometown in upstate New York, she knew it was time to step out of her comfort zone and move to a town she had never heard of before 鈥� Nashua, N.H. The interest in plant biology she had developed during her time in community college led her to apply to 易胜博官网 Manchester鈥檚 , but she quickly realized was a better fit.

鈥淚t only took about a semester for me to realize how much I enjoyed spending time in the lab,鈥� Moschitta said. 鈥淓very time I set foot in a lab, it became an engaging, compelling听and immersive experience for me. I wanted my career path to be lab oriented, so I looked into the and loved everything about it.鈥�

In addition to expanding her career opportunities, Moschitta also looked at as a fresh start. While she hadn鈥檛 previously been very involved at her former schools, she quickly joined the biology club and became a member of the TriBeta Biological Student Honor Society. She also volunteered to be a STEM Teaching Fellow, became part of the for NASA鈥檚 Student Payload Opportunity with Citizen Science program and transitioned from an undergraduate researcher to a graduate researcher in 鈥檚 pancreatic cancer lab.

鈥淏ecause I鈥檓 a hands-on learner, I knew I would benefit from more exposure to the lab,鈥� Moschitta said. 鈥淚 was lucky enough to catch Dr. Johnson鈥檚 attention.鈥�

Moschitta鈥檚 research focuses on the effects the FOXN2 gene has on pancreatic cancer cells. Her day begins with suiting up and heading to the cell culture lab where she begins prepping the cells for testing. Moschitta and her partner prep enough cells for three different tests: adhesion, migration, and proliferation.

鈥淢y lab partner and I have been focusing on FOXN2 gene knockouts using CRISPR on human and mouse pancreatic cell lines and observing changes due to that knockout,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t can be a long process, but strangely very relaxing for us.鈥�

After graduation, Moschitta hopes to secure a job in Research Triangle Park, N.C.

鈥淚 would love a position in one of the many biotech companies specializing in agriculture or horticulture,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t would be great to work on preventing plant diseases and pests through non-invasive, environmentally friendly methods.鈥�