{"570731":{"#nid":"570731","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Parks\u0027 Petit Scholar Experience is the Real Deal","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBrittaney Parks had always been interested in science, especially biology. While a junior at Chamblee High School in suburban Atlanta, she attended a \u2018Women in Engineering\u2019 program at the Georgia Institute of Technology, and saw her future.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI thought, \u2018this has been in my backyard this whole time?\u2019 I was really interested in engineering at the time, so this became my first choice,\u201d says Parks. \u201cI was hooked.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe eventually switched majors, from chemical engineering to biology, but her interest in research deepened, which has made her experience as a 2016 Petit Undergraduate Scholar all the more meaningful.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI\u2019d been in a lab setting before, but the Petit Scholar experience is the real deal,\u201d says Parks, who works in the lab of Yury Chernoff, professor in the School of Biological Sciences and a researcher at the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. \u201cThis is what it\u2019s like to be a research scientist.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EParks says she had her eye on the Petit Scholars program, but a co-op opportunity with Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati made such a commitment impossible. She applied once before, making the cut with her second effort.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe competitive Petit Scholars program is designed to develop the next generation of leading bioengineering and bioscience researchers by providing a comprehensive, yearlong research experience. Open to all Atlanta area university students, the program allows undergraduates a chance to conduct independent research in labs at the Petit Institute and other bio-focused labs at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EParks works with her mentor, Pavithra Chandramowlishwaran, on a project focused on developing a low-cost fluorescent microscope for examining neuronal activity in active circuits.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMy mentor has seen that I\u0027m a capable person so she gives me responsibility,\u201d says Parks, one of three Petit Scholars sponsored by pharmaceutical company UCB.\u0026nbsp; \u201cShe\u2019s encouraged me to take a more active role in planning. There\u0027s a real sense of ownership with this project.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA fifth-year student in the home stretch, Parks wants to continue her education and has been considering her options. She\u2019s leaning toward med school, but whatever she decides, she feels her experience as a Petit Scholar has made her better equipped for whatever awaits in a biomedical career.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022What I\u2019ve learned as a Petit Scholar can definitely be incorporated into my future goals,\u201d she says.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENow in its 18\u003Csup\u003Eth\u003C\/sup\u003E year, the program has supported almost 250 scholars from Georgia Tech, Morehouse College, Spelman College, Georgia State University, Emory University, Agnes Scott College, and Georgia Gwinnett College. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EApplications are now being accepted for the next class of \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/petitinstitute.gatech.edu\/become-petit-scholar\u0022\u003EPetit Scholars\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Officer II\u003Cbr \/\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for\u003Cbr \/\u003EBioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Program provides undergraduate bio-students with yearlong, deep dive into research"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EProgram provides undergraduate bio-students with yearlong, deep dive into research\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Program provides undergraduate bio-students with yearlong, deep dive into research"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2016-08-30 13:49:40","changed_gmt":"2022-05-26 17:09:36","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-08-30T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-08-30T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"570701":{"id":"570701","type":"image","title":"Brittaney Parks","body":null,"created":"1472578848","gmt_created":"2016-08-30 17:40:48","changed":"1475895379","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:19","alt":"Brittaney Parks","file":{"fid":"218332","name":"britparks.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/britparks.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/britparks.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3101472,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/britparks.jpg?itok=4jOVu854"}}},"media_ids":["570701"],"groups":[{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"857","name":"Petit Scholars"},{"id":"166882","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer II - Parker H. Petit Institute for - Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}