Gianna Vitelli
Neuroscience major; Statistics and Data Science minor
As a member of the Science Scholars Program, I began working in neuroscience research as a freshman, with Dr. Anna Moore in her lab in Temple University's Biology Department in January 2019. The lab investigates the molecular mechanisms behind neuronal plasticity. Beginning my sophomore year, I spearheaded a project in the Moore Lab investigating the molecular mechanisms behind the plasticity of the neuronal axon initial segment, a project that I am currently continuing. In Fall 2020, I applied to and was awarded Temple's competitive Creative Arts, Research, and Scholarship (CARAS) undergraduate grant to fund my project.
I have presented my research at several local symposiums and presented an abstract for which I was first author at the Society for Neuroscience's Global Virtual Connectome in January 2021. In February of 2021, I was accepted to a summer undergraduate research fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. In summer 2021, I participated in ten weeks of neurodegenerative disease research in the labs of Drs. Tania Gendron and Marka van Blitterswijk at the Mayo Clinic's Jacksonville campus, focusing on identifying biomarkers for the diseases Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD). Currently, I am preparing to present at the 2021 Society for Neuroscience meeting in November 2021 and am working on a draft of a first-author publication of my undergraduate research, which I hope to submit for publishing before graduation.
I have a passion for neuroscience research and am looking forward to my Ph.D. as I will be able to spend much time in the lab. I was drawn to this position [as an Undergraduate Research Ambassador] as it allows me to share this passion with other students and help them discover opportunities to find their own passions.
Other info about me: I have a minor outside of my college- I minored in Statistics and Data Science in the Fox School of Business. I am also a co-director of the Scientista Foundation's Temple University Chapter- Scientista is an organization that seeks to build community among women in STEM on college campuses.