Abby Keim Research and Running Transcript

Video Description

Abby Keim '19, a double major in bio/biotechnology and psychology as well as a cross country and track and field student-athlete, has taken advantage of one of the many experiential learning opportunities Endicott offers that has real-world application—collaborative research with faculty. Abby has teamed up with associate professor of psychology, Dr. Alefiya Albers, to investigate how olfactory, or sense of smell, has any correlation to identifying brain health. They are conducting their research at Spaulding Hospital in Boston.

Text Transcript

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Research and running require similar traits.

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They both require persistence or a sense of dedication.

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Research has a lot of unpredictable things that come up and it's really easy to give up

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and running it's really easy to give up when it's hard in your legs hurt and you can't breathe.

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I am Abby Keim and I am a senior at Endicott College.

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l am a double major in biology/biotechnology and psychology.

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I have done a lot of activities here on campus.

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I run cross country and track and field

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but one of the things I've been most involved in is research with Dr Alefiya Albers who is one of

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psychology professors here and we're studying how olfaction, or your sense of smell,

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relates to brain health.

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So we've studied this in populations with

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sub-concussive hits, such as the rugby team here on campus that we worked with

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and now for my thesis I'm looking at it in

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a clinical tramatic brain injury setting

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so we're collaborating down at Spaulding Hospital in Boston.

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I'm a research assistant which means I'm kind of involved all over the process so at

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the very beginning I help design the experiment of

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a study based on what we're trying to answer

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and then I also administer the test to actually collect that data.

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Then after that, I also help with analyzing the data

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and that's helped me decide that I want to go forward in a career in translational

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research and kind of help bridging the gap between basic science and scientific

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exploration and helping patients in more of a clinical setting

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One of the hallmarks of sort of a Endicott education is that you build

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real-world experiences into your education all the way throughout and so

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everything from required internships to encouraging our students to interact with

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their faculty and take advantage of research and as

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a psychology student research is wonderful because it gives you that real-world

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experience while also kind of directly extending what you're learning in the classroom.

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I've been really lucky to work with Abby her entire time at Endicott

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and that is a great model in general and she's been

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a great model for us in terms of how to do research in

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a kind of deep way and an engaged way as a college student.

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Endicott has an amazing amount of opportunities here.

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Whether it's in research, whether it's just questions you have or whether it's athletics,

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the amount of resources on this campus that are available to students is incredible and

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I think anyone can find something they're passionate about or something they want to

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do and be able to do it here on this campus it's just

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a matter of reaching out and taking that first step.

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So looking forward to the future, I'm applying to med school and

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and really hoping that I can continue this journey and make

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a difference in the lives of others through medicine and research.