By Clara Moffitt

Senior, Tiffanie Cappello-Lee had the amazing opportunity to be accepted to intern at the Pancreatic Cancer Research Lab at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (or TGen for short) in downtown Phoenix. TGen is a facility that contains different labs studying different types of cancers and genetic mutations.

“I worked primarily with zebrafish,” Tiffanie says, “I took care of them, bred them, selected embryos, [and] injected the embryos with genetic mutations.” These genetic mutations create pancreatic cancer. She then took pictures of their growth and development with the mutation. The hope was that the zebrafish would develop cancer. If the fish do develop the cancer, Tiffanie says, “we can treat them with potential treatments that one day may save the lives of many.”

The potential growth of cancer is measured with green fluorescent proteins, that will light up when placed under a special microscope. The proteins would glow green wherever the cancer is.

Due to her love for learning and meeting new people at the lab, Tiffanie greatly enjoys her research. Tiffanie got involved with her research when she first joined a lab at ASU. “From there I wanted to get a grasp on the different sciences so I applied to the Helios Scholars Program,” she states.

Tiffanie suggests to ask around and email professors if you want an opportunity like hers. Professors email addresses can be found on the ASU website. She says that professors are surprisingly willing to let high school students intern for them.

After such an incredible experience, Tiffanie decided that she “will probably pursue something in STEM in university. I do enjoy research, so I’ll probably join a lab.”

Furthering TPA’s mission to develop life-long learners, Tiffanie says, “Honestly, I love learning, so each day I would go into the lab and learn something new.”