Danielle Elliot (CAS’24) came to Boston University searching for opportunity.
From going to college in a city to a campus with numerous research opportunities, she landed on BU, where she studies biology with a specialization in behavioral biology and deaf studies.
Elliot reflected on her time at BU as Commencement approaches.
Why did you choose to attend BU?
One of the main things I looked for when searching for a college was a city location. I knew I wanted to be somewhere where things were happening and I could have access to just about anything I wanted. BU specifically stood out to me because of the amazing opportunities they presented. The big focus on research was definitely something that drew me in. Finally, my family played a large role in my move to Boston, I would have never been able to come to a new city without the already established support system I have here.
Looking back at your college career, what is your proudest accomplishment and most memorable moment?
My proudest accomplishment during my time at BU was definitely receiving my internship the summer after my sophomore year. After only being through half of my education I didn’t think I had enough skills or knowledge to actively participate in an internship. After partaking in this experience my mindset really shifted and I began to believe in myself and my knowledge a lot more. My most memorable moments at BU are with my friends. Spending time with them allowed me to relax in order to continue to do my best with my studies. The late nights spent surrounded by friends talking are definitely my favorite.
Did you conduct research at BU? If so, what was the project and how did you get involved? If you were a part of multiple projects, feel free to tell me about them all.
On the medical campus at BU I am part of the Seta lab in the vascular biology department. Our goal is to find remedies to help with arterial stiffness and aneurysms. Using RNA sequencing my PI Dr. Francesca Seta was able to find a gene that when knocked out leads to increased levels of aneurysm. My role in the lab is to treat vascular smooth muscle cells with our drugs of interest and to measure the expression of our proteins of interest to see how our treatments impact our markers for aneurysm. I became involved in this project by continuously trying. I began emailing tons of researchers looking for help from the UROP site in the fall semester of my junior year. By spring I had received two responses. After visiting both labs I settled on my current lab and began in the summer!
What was the favorite class you took and why?
My favorite class that I took was BI 315: Systems Physiology. It was the first class that combined knowledge from all my prerequisite and intro courses and made me really understand how everything was connected. Learning about how all the systems in the body worked and how they were connected felt like a big stepping stone in my education and I really enjoyed the content.
Who was your favorite professor and why?
My favorite professor throughout my education was Professor Muscedere. I was lucky to have him for three courses: BI 225: Behavioral Biology; BI 315: Systems Physiology; BI542: Neuroethology. One of the first things I realized about him was the excitement he is able to portray while teaching. He truly loves what he is teaching and teaching this information to the next generation. Every lecture I had with him I have always been fully immersed and came out of it feeling like I really understood what he was teaching. I got to know him a lot better in his Neuroethology class as it’s much smaller and is a discussion based class. Throughout this class I realized everything I thought about him from bigger lectures was completely true. He always encourages our ideas and loves to encourage further discussion into these ideas. He is an extremely easy professor to speak to and really helps to build up your confidence as an academic. I would 1000% recommend anyone who can take a class of his to take it.
What are your plans after graduating?
Following graduation I will be working as a translational research coordinator in the gastrointestinal department at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. As I’m working I plan to get together my application for medical school and attend in about two years!
Interview by Abby Van Selous (COM’24)