{"id":33303,"date":"2022-12-12T08:57:30","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T13:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/?p=33303"},"modified":"2023-08-28T12:01:14","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T16:01:14","slug":"student-focus-keesha-sanchez","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/student-focus-keesha-sanchez\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Focus Keesha Sanchez"},"content":{"rendered":"

Student Focus<\/h2>\n

Keesha Sanchez, Pre-Dental Undergraduate Student<\/h3>\n

Keesha Sanchez<\/strong> became interested in the sciences at a very young age, and was especially \"\" interested in Biology after taking Anatomy & Physiology in high school. She said \u201cI remember being intrigued when I learned about the several biological pathways we have in our bodies. It amazes me how one small disruption in any of those pathways is associated with several diseases.\u201d<\/p>\n

A pre-dental student working towards a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in Chemistry from Rhode Island College (RIC), Keesha has plans to graduate in the Spring of 2023 and already started research in her field. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest accomplishment so far is participating in the Summer Research Opportunity Program at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry. It is the top-ranked dental school in the U.S. and it is my top choice for both my Graduate and Dental school applications, so working there this summer was so unreal!\u201d<\/blockquote><\/div><\/section>\n

As a Research Assistant, Keesha\u2019s project \u201cMacrophage efferocytosis of apoptotic osteoblasts induces bone formation\u201d was mentored by Provost Laurie K. McCauley and Dr. Lena Batoon.<\/p>\n

After participating in the RI-INBRE SURF program in 2021 and learning about S. aureus<\/em> biofilms, Sanchez became interested in oral biofilms and their implications in the oral cavity and said, \u201cTo expand my knowledge in this field, I would like to pursue an M.S. in Oral Health Sciences.\u201d Keesha was mentored by Dr. Kerry LaPlante<\/strong>, PharmD, Professor, and chairperson at the University of Rhode Island’s Department of Pharmacy Practice. Dr. LaPlante shared, \u201cIt was a pleasure working with Keesha in the lab; she is a bright and inquisitive student.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keesha shared that as a first-generation college student she experienced a rough start during her first semester of college, not knowing where a career in biology would lead her, it caused anxiety and imposter syndrome. She started shadowing dentists and participating in research to gain insight into her desired field and shared that \u201cAfter meeting such a diverse group of people, I ultimately realized that there were endless possibilities!\u201d In her college biology and chemistry courses, the laboratory component was always her favorite.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved taking what I learn in class and applying it to a laboratory setting. I also really enjoyed scientific writing and always found myself going down rabbit holes during assigned research projects. I wanted to contribute to advancing scientific knowledge outside of a classroom setting and decided to apply to the McNair Scholars program at RIC.\u201d A 2020-2022 McNair Scholar, Keesha is currently working with Dr. Anika Toorie<\/strong> (RI-INBRE \u201919-20 SURF, \u201820-23 ECD) on her project \u201cEvaluation of Sex-Specific Oxidative Stress Markers in the Pathophysiology of Diet-Induced NAFLD.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA career in science is exciting to me because I like the idea of acquiring specialized knowledge in a specific area of study and challenging myself in new ways.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Student Focus Keesha Sanchez, Pre-Dental Undergraduate Student Keesha Sanchez became interested in the sciences at a very young age, and was especially interested in Biology after taking Anatomy & Physiology in high school. She said \u201cI remember being intrigued when I learned about the several biological pathways we have in our bodies. It amazes me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1036,"featured_media":33305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[820,105],"tags":[754,655,799],"class_list":["post-33303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-students","category-undergrad","tag-ri-inbre-surf","tag-ric","tag-sanchez"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1036"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33303"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33303\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33706,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33303\/revisions\/33706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/riinbre\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}