不良研究所

When I discovered a rare abnormality in my wrists, typically affecting less than 1% of the population, I felt hopeless. There wasn't much research available, and I wasn't getting the answers I needed. But instead of letting that diagnosis drag me down, I decided to let it build me up. That's what led me to research. For my PURE Award, I joined Dr. Lorraine Hamiwka and Dr. Marinka Twilt's team studying ANCA vasculitis in pediatric patients. This is a rapidly progressing autoimmune disease where the body attacks its own blood vessels. Over the summer, I supported a retrospective cohort study, which meant reading through patient records and analyzing transplantation outcomes to determine if a specific treatment option could help children with ANCA-AAV. This experience opened my eyes to how complex research truly is. Before this summer, I only saw research from the outside, where everything appears to be perfectly planned and reported in a linear fashion from the beginning to the end. Over the summer, I learned about all the details that make a research study rigorous, things like collaborating as a research team, securing ethics approval, and knowing which outcomes are the most compelling. 

Now, as an insider to research, I appreciate that research isn鈥檛 just about exploring data, but it鈥檚 also about exploring yourself and your passions. I'm now developing my own study on juvenile idiopathic arthritis, focusing on overlooked aspects of clinical treatment in hopes of helping patients who endured the same struggle I felt. My advice to other students? Take the leap. The nerves never go away, but when you're researching something meaningful, you fall in love with the process. Everything starts somewhere, and you have to advocate for yourself and take the reins of your own journey.