Taylor Phillips-Jones

Experience

• 

  Howard University College of Medicine

  Nov 2017 - Jun 2021

  Student Researcher

  Currently investigating the neurological mechanisms of binge eating and drug addiction in female rats. Work involves collecting weights of rats and tracking their food intake, running cocaine drug self-administration tests, delivering intraperitoneal and subcutaneous injections, taking vaginal lavages samples to understand the rat estrous cycle, performing perfusions, dissecting organs, cutting brain slices using a cryostat, performing immunohistochemistry on rat brain sections, mounting and coverslipping slides, and counting orexin and c-fos expressing cells under the microscope using computer software. Show less

• 

  University of Minnesota

  Jun 2018 - Aug 2018

  Neuroscience Research Intern

  I worked at the University of Minnesota as a member of the Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Program (LSSURP). I worked in the Department of Neuroscience under my mentor, Dr. Lucy Vulchanova. The goal of my research project was to better understand the interaction of the nervous system and the immune system in the development of the pain state. I specifically examined the activity of innate immune cells within the spinal subarachnoid space and the interaction of these cells with the blood vessels within the space after sciatic nerve injury (spared nerve injury). Show less

• 

  Weill Cornell Medicine

  Jun 2019 - Aug 2019

  Gateways to the Laboratory Program Participant

  Being a participant in the Gateways to Laboratory Program allowed me to get a glimpse into the life of an MD-PhD student. I was able to gain clinical experience by shadowing various doctors at New York Presbyterian Hospital and engaging in problem-based learning sessions, in which I analyzed different clinical cases. I also conducted full-time research at The Rockefeller University in a neural systems lab, and engaged in thoughtful journal clubs every week. Through this program, I was also able to give an oral presentation at the Leadership Alliance National Symposium (LANS). Show less

• 

  The Rockefeller University

  Jun 2019 - Aug 2019

  Undergraduate Student Researcher

  At The Rockefeller University, I worked in the lab of Dr. Winrich Freiwald. My research project involved developing a virtual reality experimental approach for studying how the brain implements attentive behaviors. Using the game development program, Unity, I was able to create scenes/environments that recruited different forms of attention in human participants.

• 

  University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB)

  Jun 2021 - Sept 2022

  STAR-PREP Scholar
• 

  University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

  Aug 2022 - now

  MD/PhD Student