JACKSON, Tenn. — May 12, 2015 — Courtney Berger, a senior biology major at 51社区, spent the last two summers at University of Tennessee Health Science Center researching the effect of different drugs on blood flow to the brain of infants.
The neonatal pediatric research focused on discovering how to get enough blood or oxygen to the brains of premature babies.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very experimental at this point,鈥� Berger said. 鈥淲e operated on baby piglets and introduced different concentrations of drugs to the surface of their brains through the ports.鈥�
Berger is the first 51社区 student to be involved in the undergraduate research program at University of Tennessee Health Science Center. Dr. Charles Leffler, the primary lead in the scientific community on this subject, served as Berger鈥檚 mentor at UT.
鈥淚 was blessed to have a phenomenal lab,鈥� Berger said. 鈥淭hey invited me back. I might end up doing that this summer.鈥�
The research allowed the undergraduate students hands-on experience. In her first year, Berger said she made the drugs, introduced them and wrote down the data. In her second year, she performed the surgery on her own several times.
鈥淭he motto of our lab was, 鈥業f everything goes right, you did something wrong,鈥欌�� Berger said. 鈥淣othing is ever perfect when it comes to live animals. For us to measure the blood flow of the brain, they had to be alive the whole time. It鈥檚 what you do as a doctor鈥攎aking sure you are keeping your patients alive.鈥�
After graduating in December, Berger plans to attend medical school and become a pediatrician. She said the research experience showed her the origin of all the medicines she will prescribe as a physician.
鈥淭he research I worked on will directly affect babies,鈥� Berger said. 鈥淚t will be cool to see if it becomes applicable in my lifetime. Even still, certain aspects of our research have already gone into clinical trials.鈥�
Berger鈥檚 research resulted in a 56-page paper for her undergraduate project. The completed research under Leffler should be published in a medical journal in the coming year.
鈥淎s a researcher, you discover something,鈥� Berger said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 yours, but you want to share it with everybody. I loved the fact that we are eventually benefiting the lives of premature babies in the future. It鈥檚 ground level, but we are able to explore the possibilities.鈥�