Makayla Roberts
Snapshot
Honours Kinesiology IV student examining the effects of chronic exercise on the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) in mice with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The project aims to see if 10 weeks of voluntary wheel running improves the morphology of the NMJ in DMD.
Currently working on a thesis project
Position obtained through: Networking, cold emailing, classes
My responsibilities include using software analysis to further examine the NMJ looking for fragmentation and denervation, as well as providing figures.
Reach out to the professors who's classes you're interested in! It can help to find research that align more with your interests this way as well as possibly get an opportunity if they see a face they recognize. A lot of students are looking for these opportunities so I would reach out sooner than later!
It's okay if you don't know what specific area you are interested in. I didn't know that I wanted to pursue research at all until I found one of my classes in third year extremely interesting. I attended the Undergraduate Research night where I went home to work on my application to do my 3rd year Research Practicum. Now I'm doing my Undergrad Thesis and enjoy what I'm doing. Don't be scared if you don't know right away, it'll work out!
