A Vision for the Future: My Undergrad Experience Researching Novel Medicines for the Retina
Cherish Brumley is a 4th year COF Advancing an Inclusive Biotech Economy in Ohio (IBEO-Transfer) scholar majoring in Theoretical Mathematics and minoring in History at The Ohio State University. She also holds a private pilot certificate. Her areas of interest include mathematical ophthalmology, mathematical art, and aviation. Cherish is graduating this semester [SP26] and has applied to Ph.D. programs in mathematics. Cherish worked from August 2023 to October 2024 as undergraduate researcher in Dr. Colleen Cebulla’s ophthalmology lab, which functions within the Department of Ophthalmology at The Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Dr. Cebulla’s lab focuses on researching medicines that have potential to treat retinal damage. Cherish initially worked under the Destination Ohio State University (DOSU) program, which provided transfer students with the opportunity for paid research experience for 2 semesters. She gained experience working with animal eye samples in a wet lab. Her duties included cryostat ocular frozen sectioning, antibody staining, confocal microscopy, and data analysis. She continued to work under the guidance of Dr. Cebulla, as she was hired by the lab after the DOSU program expired. She then assisted in immunohistochemistry experiments to address reviewer comments for a peer reviewed paper, in which she earned an acknowledgement. This experience allowed Cherish to gain knowledge of the retina and its associated diseases. This inspired in her a profound respect and interest in ophthalmology.
Impact of the Choose Ohio First Scholarship Program
"The COF scholarship has given me outstanding resources and support to enrich my undergraduate experience at OSU. This scholarship encouraged me to pursue volunteering and research work, all of which has allowed me to make a positive difference on my community here in Columbus. I am grateful that I gained a work-based learning experience as it became one of the most meaningful experiences in my academic career. It is therefore easy for me to appreciate the amazing impact the COF scholarship has made on my life.".