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Congratulations to the November Undergraduate Researcher of the Month, Gabriella Khazal!  

Gabriella Khazal is a senior majoring in behavioral neuroscience and has been actively involved in multiple undergraduate research projects since her first year at ÀÏ°ÄÃÅ×ÊÁÏ. Her first research experience was in the Department of Biology with Dr. Judith Ochrietor, Professor of Biology, where they investigated Basigin, a transmembrane glycoprotein, and its response to inflammatory stimuli in the intestines. Gabriella also contributed to a second project in the Ochrietor laboratory studying Basigin expression in mouse brains in response to cortisol, a stress hormone. These projects were presented at the Florida Undergraduate Research Conference (FURC) in 2023 and 2024; the Showcase of Osprey Advancements in Research and Scholarship (SOARS) in 2023 and 2024; and the Undergraduate – Graduate Learning, Inquiry and Distinctive Experimentation (U-GLIDE) Symposium in 2023. Additionally, Gabriella participated in a project analyzing student perceptions of their research experiences, under the direction of Dr. W Brian Lane in the Department of Physics, which was published in the journal Physical Review Physics Education Research in September 2024. Currently, she is working at the Mayo Clinic Florida as part of the U-BRI (Undergraduate Biomedical Research Internship) program, where she is investigating the link between advanced maternal age and breast cancer risk. 

After she graduates this May, Gabriella intends on pursuing an MD-PHD. Her advice to aspiring undergraduate researchers is, “Although taking the first step is always the most difficult, it is always better than taking no steps [at all]! Research is where you can use your knowledge and creativity to create something extraordinary.”