My name is Ines Studer and I am a senior at the University of Arizona majoring in Pharmaceutical Sciences and minoring in Biochemistry. I am currently working as a research assistant in Dr. Xinxin Ding’s laboratory. During my time here, I have been fortunate to receive excellent mentorship and complete my honors thesis. The project that I have spent much of my time working on is titled “The Characterization of naphthalene (NA)-DNA adducts in wild-type mice and firefighters.” NA is an environmental contaminant present in mothballs, car exhaust, and most relevant to this project, fire smoke. Our aim has been to detect and quantify these adducts in exposed mice and eventually in firefighters. This will be beneficial in future studies as it is evidence of NA genotoxicity, DNA damage, and of NA being a frequent carcinogenic exposure to firefighters. Currently, I am planning to take next year as a gap year during which I will be applying to Pharmacology and Toxicology PhD programs. In my free time, I enjoy cooking/baking, hiking, and learning how to play the guitar!
