Xing's abstract and bio

abstract:
Cerebellar Conditioning in Mice
Presentation of experimental research in field of classical conditioning in mice with focus on changes in cerebellar proteins.

Mice subjects undergo training with the administration of an electrical shock to the eye (unconditioned stimulus) and an auditory tone (conditioned stimulus) to elicit involuntary eye-blink response (conditioned response). Learning takes place as cerebeller connections are modified over numerous trials, and changes in proteins of the deep nuclei of the cerebellum are studied to compare effects of learning in trained mice with the absence of learning in control animals.

Delivery in the form of a website created using Dreamweaver, with detailed explanation and illustration of all steps, from Introduction and Methods to Results and Conclusion, through a combination of media clips, drawings and text. Provides comprehensive introduction to goals of research and previous findings in this area, as well as supplementary information on issues such as animal testing, occupational and lab safety, and personnel training. Intended to allow insights into activities taking place in the lab, building specifically upon this particular experiment and its nitty-gritty details, and accessible to a reader with basic background knowledge of neurobiology. Most useful for undergraduate or graduate students conducting research in a similar field.

bio:
Chen Xing, Singapore
Neuroscience, B.A. University of Southern California
Background in cellular, molecular and systems neuroscience, with knowledge of basic computational, cognitive and research design concepts in neuroscience. Taken undergraduate courses in neurobiology, gerontology, neurological disease, neuropsychology, as well as graduate-level courses in advanced neuroscience and cognitive neuroscience. Will be completing her degree in May 2008 with classes in computational neuroscience and computer programming.

Previous lab experience: Summer 2006, in a molecular biology lab dealing with STAT proteins, at Biopolis, Singapore, in the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Following that, Fall 2006 in the Finch lab, under the Gerontology department at USC, analysing gene transcription levels of the Ncf1 subunit of NADPH oxidase in LPS-infected mice. Spring 2007 at Peking University, Beijing, China, to truly understand what it means to be of Chinese heritage. Studied at Cambridge University, UK, Summer 2007, to learn about art history and social welfare issues.
An artist who delights in portraying the atmosphere, buildings and culture of cities that she visits, through evocative pen drawings.

She is currently applying to graduate school programmes to obtain her PhD in Neuroscience, to study the neural correlates of vision.

Lab techniques:

Surgery in mice, perfusion, sectioning
Immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, ELISA
PCR, primer design
Extraction and purification of DNA, RNA and proteins
Western, Northern and Southern blotting
Taking care of HeLa and macrophage cells
Plasmid recombination
Microarray analysis

Software skills:

StatView, SPSS, Oligo, Opticon Monitor, Eyeblink 5.0 (used in classical conditioning training, created using LabView)
Dreamweaver, Photoshop, FinalCut Pro, Logic, Excel
will be learning shortly: C++