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Andrew Schrader is a senior who conducts ophthalmology research with Dr. Jennifer Lewis and Dr. Cynthia Roberts. Majoring in biochemistry and minoring in biomedical engineering and Italian, Andrew will be attending the OSU College of Veterinary Medicine after graduation. Andrew took some time to speak with us about his research experiences as an undergraduate.
What specifically do you research? What projects are you currently working on?
The primary aspect of my research is analyzing what happens after laser refractive surgery. When a patient undergoes corrective surgery, the laser actually cuts away material of the cornea, changing its micro- and nano-scale topography. We are trying to determine how this new shape affects the wound healing process. In my experiments, I first ablate, or cut, contact lenses with the same laser used in eye surgery and then analyze the roughness of the resulting surface. We found that shallower depth of ablations had smoother surfaces. This has clinical ramifications because if a patient requires deep ablation, hazing of the cornea may arise after the surgery. Haze obstructs vision and can last from six months up to a year. We hypothesized that there is a correlation between the roughness of the laser ablation and the occurrence of haze; thus, a smoother ablation would minimize hazing.
How did you get involved in undergraduate research?
When I enrolled in the biomedical engineering minor sophomore year, I was a recipient of the Kettering Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering Scholarship. I was contacted by Dr. Lewis about participating in research in the area of biomedical engineering. I met with Dr. Lewis, and she had many ongoing projects, including the one I joined. I was very fortunate because I had been waiting until late my sophomore to begin research when Dr. Lewis contacted me. However, the extra time to participate in undergraduate research has proven beneficial.
What were the benefits of participating in undergraduate research?
Through my experiences in lab and interactions with faculty and graduate students, I have learned a lot about the nature of research. As an undergraduate, I've been fortunate to be able to do raw research: design the project, try it out and go back and redesign. There is also the aspect of applying for grants, navigating the OSU bureaucracy, and working with a dynamic network of researchers in engineering and medicine. From these experiences, I realized that I didn't want to do research as a career. However, I have become interested in veterinary ophthalmology for my future and I wouldn't have had this idea if I hadn't done research.
What advice would you give to current undergraduates who want to get involved in research?
Doing research is your key to going on and doing anything else that you want to do. But if you're doing the research, don't just do the research, come and show up to the lab and then go home in the afternoon. Actually get your hands dirty; present research at the Denman or other research conferences. Strive to complete a senior thesis. It shows that you understand what you're researching. It shows that you've been able to compile your data and thoughts together to get yourself to the end goal of why this research is important.
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