Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder

Hello everyone! To formally introduce myself, my name is Alexa Nicole Celerian. I am a rising junior from Josephine Dobbs Clement Early College High School. It is an amazing school located at the heart of North Carolina Central University. I was born in the Philippine Islands, and I resided there for more than ten years. Throughout my childhood years, I learned how to speak four different languages. I enjoy sports; however, my most favorite is swimming. I have a family of four consisting of my mother, father, and a 14-year-old brother. My family is my inspiration. In the near future, I aspire of becoming a successful cardiologist. As a child, I have always dreamt of becoming a medical doctor. I love working with people, especially children; so, I might even consider the field of pediatric cardiology. I feel that the Howard Hughes Program will provide me with a greater body of knowledge.
My first week in the program was extremely interesting. There was so much to learn and I have never been exposed to so many lab instruments/ technologies in the past. On Monday, my Principal Investigator, Dr. Allison Ashley-Koch, cordially greeted me. We then walked to the Center of Human Genetics, the area wherein I will be primarily doing my research. During my first day, I had to sign a Confidentiality form, and then Dr. Allison began introducing me to my project. It involves trying to find out if environmental factors such as smoking, lead exposure, alcohol use, and so forth, heightens the risk or is related to Attention- Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD). I read about the basics of Genetics in medicine to gain a better understanding of the subject. In addition, I read more about assessing AD/HD. I learned that AD/HD involves hyperactive-impulsive or inattentive symptoms that caused impairment and were present before seven years of age. Overall, it was a day of trying to understand the concept of the main subject I was trying to research.
Tuesday was another exciting day! It mostly dealt with the clinical side of research. After meeting with Dr. Allison, I was introduced to Linda Exelbierd, who is the AD/HD study coordinator. She is in-charge with consenting the patients and informing them of the benefits/ risks of their study participation. The proband is usually a child under the age of twelve who has AD/HD. She tries to consent as many of the proband’s family member to see the history of AD/HD within that family. To participate in the study, the family often has to go through many steps. They have to answer many questionnaires, developmental histories, and general information. In addition, they have to be checked for their attention span as well as have their blood samples are drawn. The process then repeats after two years. Linda actually showed me several pedigrees of patients she inputted in the computer. It was interesting to see the various generations affected with AD/HD. After meeting with Linda, I was introduced to Shelley Keats, another clinical employee. She inputs questionnaire data into the computer and she is also present during family meetings. As a matter of fact, I may be able to observe a family meeting when they have one! One very striking thing that we talked about was a disorder known as Trichotillomania, wherein people pull their hairs or pick their skin excessively to the point of baldness. According to Shelley, patients whom she has spoken to in the past told her that they do not feel any pain when they pull their hairs or pick their skin. Tuesday was very intriguing.
Next came Wednesday. The highlight of that day was surely getting an I.D. badge. It made me feel “Official” !! After that, Melanie Kail and a fellow personnel showed me how they put patient data into the computer. Melanie will help me organize my data after working in the lab. We looked through the data and queried the factors that might affect AD/HD. We analyzed the results and placed it in a spreadsheet. Unfortunately, we didn’t see much correlation but it might have just been due to the fact that we did not have that big of a population size. One significant thing though is that all the children whose mothers drank while pregnant were affected. I was asked to observe a clinical meeting as well. They were mostly talking about regulations dealing with accessing patient files. Then, for the rest of the day, I completed several IRB modules as well as Online Safety Training Sessions.
On Thursday, I met with Dr. Allison again in the morning and she and I talked about my first week as well as the activities that I participated in during the morning with the Howard Hughes Program. We read about the role of dopamine transporter (DAT) genotype and maternal prenatal smoking on children with AD/HD. Dopamine transporter is the system that helps neurons with transporting messages/ impulses. The journal stated that children with two copies of the DAT allele and had prenatal smoke exposure had greater hyperactive-impulsive scores compared to its contrary. For the rest of the day, I completed some more safety training and I read more excerpts from journals.
Lastly, Friday was perhaps the best part of my week. Dr. Allison was teaching me about the structure of a DNA. I then attended a session with Julie Rochelle as well as other new personnel in the Center for Human Genetics. She discussed lab safety rules, the dress code, and other ethics rules. Next, I was able to go to the lab and start practicing using the pipet with my mentor Chris. He gave me a tour of the lab and I was very fascinated by the various gadgets that they use. I have never seen such things in my life. He explained to me how the TaqMan works. It is very similar to a PCR except it involves probes that emit light waves. He explained how I would be looking at various DNA’s from patients with AD/HD, attempting to look for a single nucleotide polymorphism mutation that is common with most/ if not all of them. So, I am highly invigorated to start my research. I cannot wait to see what more will come from the next several weeks!