Shayla V
- Research Program Mentor
PhD at University of Virginia
Expertise
Neuroscience of sensory perception
Bio
I recently received my PhD from the University of Virginia in neuroscience. My research project there focused on the impact of sex on development of neuronal and glial populations responsible for our sense of touch. I've been doing research in both psychology and neuroscience for the last 7 years (2 years as an undergraduate and 6 years as a PhD student) and have mentored undergraduate and younger graduate students for the last 4 years. In my spare time, I love to crochet, read, and snuggle with my cat. I am also very passionate about mentoring students and helping them identify their personal goals and making plans to reach them. One day I hope to have that be a more permanent aspect of my career.Project ideas
Writing a Literature Review
This project would involve looking through previously published papers and compiling the information into a review paper. The topic could be anything within the field of neuroscience ranging from the role of glial cells in neurodegenerative disorder to the impact of stress on density and connectivity of neurons in different brain regions. This project would improve your ability to read scientific literature, write and edit a scientific document, and deepen your understanding of the chosen topic.
Computational Analysis of Publicly Available Datasets
This project utilized publicly available datasets to analyze data collected by other researchers using computational methods. With open software programs like R and Python, you could utilize existing code or write your own code to explore the large amounts of data that have yet to be fully explored. After identifying the dataset you would want to explore, you could come up with a question that dataset can answer and find ways to extract that information with code. The results could then be compiled and turned into a written publication.