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Judah Weathers does not go
anywhere without his biochemistry textbook. The Northeastern
University graduate is preparing to attend medical school at
Yale University, and he is passionate about his chosen career.
“I want to make sure I am an expert. I cannot take the chance
of not knowing something,” he says.
During the last two years of
his undergraduate program Weathers conducted research at the
Stellar Neuroscience Laboratory at Northeastern University.
The lab uses animal models to try to delineate the role of
different neuroanatomical substrates active in cocaine
addiction and drug recidivism.
As a participant in the NIH
Undergraduate Scholarship Program, Judah joined the laboratory
of
Dr. Craig Blackstone at the National Institute of
Neurological Diseases and Stroke, where he investigated the
interactions between the DJ-1 protein—which is encoded by a
gene sometimes disrupted in patients with Parkinson’s
disease—and different enzymes.
His time at the NIH was an eye-opening experience. “It has really changed my view of the basic
science research,” he says. “I have learned ten times as much as in
my entire career in my other lab. There are more opportunities to be
immersed into the research here. It is really hands on. All the
people in the lab have taken responsibility for me, so when I am
there, I am constantly learning.”
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about other UGSP Scholars.
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