Example Of The Reu Personal Statement Sample

My interest in medicine began the first time I (intentionally) held lethal bacteria. Mycobacterium marinum causes incurable granulomas in zebrafish. To me, however, this microbe also represents a vital step in my career path. Prior to studying M. marinum, I captured phages without testing their therapeutic potential. M. marinum thus provides my first chance to treat a disease in vivo. Pathogenic bacteria initially intrigued me last year, when I created an award-winning analysis on phage-host specificity. Exploring antibiotic resistance inspired me to harness phages as antidotes to bacterial infections. I became curious about drug resistance in mycobacteria while annotating the genome of a phage that may infect M. tuberculosis. To that end, I aspire to develop novel treatments for infectious diseases throughout my academic and professional careers. My desire to become a biomedical scientist has empowered me to apply for the Wadsworth Center Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program.

The Wadsworth Center scientists’ research parallels my interests and aspirations. Dr. Anil Ojha’s research is of particular interest to me, since I intend to understand, prevent, and reverse biofilm proliferation throughout my career. My experience in suppressing pathogenic mycobacteria with phages makes Dr. Ghosh and Dr. Gray’s research intriguing as well. My proficiency in utilizing computational and microbiological techniques in experimentation will enable me to create an insightful REU project. Indeed, the REU program provides the most conducive environment for facilitating my growth as a researcher of infectious