Christine Palermo
Senior, Biochemistry

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I came back from a visit to Latin America determined to learn more about world health and infectious diseases. A friend suggested that I look into undergraduate research. Dr. Gerard Cangelosi in Pathobiology invited me to tour his lab. Working with bacteria sounded intriguing, and very pertinent to my interest. I was a little intimidated at first, but I dug in and learned.

In about six months, I was working with mycobacterium avium, a bacterium commonly found in people with HIV. I noticed a variation in the way colonies responded to red dye. Others in the lab assured me that it was a known variation, but I was curious and kept probing. After a while, I showed my research to Dr. Cangelosi and we concluded that I had discovered a drug-resistant strain that may have implications in the treatment of HIV. We even co-authored a paper on our discovery and brought in a sizeable grant. I've been there long enough now that I can ask research questions, order the equipment, set up my experiment and do it. He's giving me a lot of room. After graduation, I definitely plan to continue in research.

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