Coming to USC as a STEM major, I remember thinking every other student around me was already working in a lab while I struggled with which building my classes were in. This rush for research opportunities can be intimidating, especially for freshmen. If you’re like me and you have no clue where to start, or don’t even know why you want to join a lab, this investigation/exploration is for you! I talked to my friend, Dhruv Reddy, who started a research position early in his freshman year at the Chiolo Lab. 

He said that working in research can be a helpful way to figure out what you are actually interested in. 

“I didn’t really know what I wanted to do after undergrad,” he said. “But through research and gaining experience and insights, I’ve definitely been able to narrow it down.” 

So, from sending out cold emails to now working with complex protein structures, here is Reddy’s journey. 

How do you even find a lab?

As you go deeper into the scientific community, you start realizing everyone is connected. The first step should be utilizing connections you made in high school. Previous labs, summer internships, or college courses are helpful resources that Reddy took advantage of. 

“I was fortunate to be involved in research during high school, and my mentor there connected me with a PI (Principal Investigator) at USC,” he said. “But honestly, for most students, cold emailing is the way to go.”

Cold emailing can be very tedious and intimidating. You might not always get a response, but you shouldn’t let that discourage you. Reddy recommends picking a department you're genuinely interested in, making a list of professors whose research excites you, and sending out personalized emails. 

“Yes, it’s tedious,” he said. “And yes, you’ll probably get a bunch of no’s—or no response at all. But you only need one yes.”

Also, don’t sleep on the HSC Campus! Reddy said that the research and labs at HSC are usually a better fit for what students want, and it’s pretty easy to get there on the USC shuttle.

What do you do in the lab? 

Reddy’s research investigates how the Nse5/6 complex regulates DNA repair in Drosophila heterochromatin (fruit flies). The Nse5/6 complex is part of the essential Smc5/6 complex, which maintains genome stability and prevents harmful recombination in repetitive DNA regions. 

“This work will provide insight into how defects in these proteins contribute to genomic instability and human disease,” Reddy said.

The research that Reddy does is linked to diseases like Atelis syndrome and Chromosomal Breakage Syndrome, which correlate with developmental issues and higher cancer risk, highlighting the translatable nature of his work. 

What are some opportunities after I find a lab? 

You just need to dive down the rabbit hole that is the USC website. 

“During the academic year, you can apply for SOAR/SHURE, Provost, or get funding directly from a PI, such as through URAP,” Reddy said. “In the summer, SOAR is replaced by SURF. ” 

Another program you can complete, which Reddy did over this summer, is BUGS.

“The BUGS program taught me how to create a poster presentation and how to give a scientific talk,” Reddy said. “Most importantly, I learned how to create a talk that was only five minutes long, but was able to teach someone about the research that I have been working on for months, and let them be able to take away something new, even if the topic was something they had never heard of before.”

With a letter of recommendation from a USC professor you work with, you can fill out many applications by writing a two-page proposal about your research. Having written a proposal for SOAR this past semester, according to Reddy, the key is maintaining good communication with your principal investigator (PI). 

“Writing any kind of proposal is a lot of back and forth between you and your mentors,” he said. “You also don’t know what application readers are looking for or how much knowledge they have in your topic, so there are a lot of unknowns in the process, which can cause some anxiety.”

USC has many opportunities for any undergraduate, regardless of their major, to get involved in research. Be persistent, stay open-minded, and don’t get discouraged by rejections.