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Where are you from and where did you get you undergraduate degree?
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I'm from California, and I got my bachelor's at the University of San Diego, and then I got my master's from Tulane University in New Orleans
-Michelle Merrigan
I am from Palatine IL, and I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign.
-Greg Robbins
I'm from Lynchburg, Virginia and I have a B.A. in biology from Virginia Tech.
-Guy Townsend
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Did you have previous research experience before you joined the Ph.D. program, and if so, what?
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While at North Central College I did research in Organic Chemistry and Microbiology. Upon graduation, I started working as a research assistant in Dr. Alan Wolfe's laboratory at Loyola University Medical Center's Microbiology and Immunology Department.
-Ana Shulla
The summer after my junior year in college I did research at Stanford University in the Department of Infectious Diseases studying measles.
-Katy Gunn Dye
I worked at Illinois Wesleyan in the lab of Dr. David Bollivar, who studies Chlorophyll production in Rhodobacter capsulatus
-Beth Hussa
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Why did you select Loyola's Microbiology & Immunology Ph.D. Program?
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Because of the quality of the research done here, and the investment of the faculty in student development.
-Michelle Merrigan
Being part of the department for a year prior to joining as a graduate student was a very helpful experience for me. I wanted to be part of a department where the training of students was a very high priority, and this is what I found at Loyola's Micro/Immuno Department. The collaborative and collegial spirit of the department played a major part in my decision.
-Ana Shulla
The strong emphasis on public speaking and the quality research that takes place here
-Guy Townsend
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What best prepared you for this program?
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Working in Alan Wolfe's lab prepared me more than anything else for this program. Lab experience is superior to undergrad classes. I learned how to design and carry out experiments, troubleshoot, and always have the appropriate controls. Most importantly I learned how to think analytically, and be able to problem solve.
-Ana Shulla
The failures I endured in my summer of research at Stanford prepared me for what research is really like. I was not at all surprised when things in the lab did not go as smoothly as planned. Also, the research experience helped me to know that I really enjoyed lab work, which, as an unknown, can sometimes be problematic for students entering the program.
-Katy Gunn Dye
I was best prepared for my graduate career by my experiences both working in the lab and in lab classes at
Illinois Wesleyan. I also benefited from the emphasis on primary literature in my upper-level classes there.
-Beth Hussa
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What do you think are the advantages of pursuing your Ph.D. in our program?
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The professors are experts in their own fields
The friendly and noncompetitive atmosphere
The program has a reputation for "producing" good students
The emphasis the program places on public speaking
-Ana Shulla
The opportunity to develop public speaking skills. The departmental lab meeting shapes experimental questions from multiple opinions, disciplines and perspective. The chance to explore multiple disciplines from a single program before committing to one.
-Guy Townsend
The fact that the faculty are all interested in the progress of each and every student really facilitates an excellent learning environment.
-Kari Roettger
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What aspect of the Ph.D. experience do you enjoy the most?
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The small classes allow time for a lot of personalized attention, which really helped me understand what I was learning instead of memorizing it for a multiple choice test.
-Megan Papineau
Weekly seminar helps me to keep updated outside my field of research.
-Emily Yip
I really enjoy being in the lab and trying to make new discoveries.
-Greg Robbins
The benchwork. While I enjoy thinking about a question and designing the best experiment to address the question, my favorite part is to physically do the experiment at the bench.
-Kari Roettger
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What are your future career goals?
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To hold an academic research faculty position.
-Guy Townsend
I enjoy teaching, and I hope my future career involves that in some capacity.
-Michelle Merrigan
I am in the midst of lab rotations, and by the end of this semester I will have made a decision about joining a lab. As far as future interests, I have a long way to go until I get my PhD. After that I would like to get a PostDoc position, and ultimately obtain an academic research
position.
-Ana Shulla
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