Natasha Crosby

Midwest Crossroads AGEP
Indiana University, Bloomington

Natasha Crosby will graduate in January 2009 with her doctorate in molecular biology and genetics and a minor in biochemistry. A member of Professor David Daleke’s lab, her work focuses on the effect of diabetes (hyperglycemia) on red blood cell membranes, specifically looking into ways to reverse the effects of hyperglycemia by using antioxidant treatments. It is hoped that this research will contribute to therapies for diabetes. As an undergraduate, Natasha majored in biology at Hampton University in Virginia (a long way from her home in Oakland, California). Participation in the university’s HBCU-UP program, a NSF-funded initiative to increase minority participation in the STEM disciplines, boosted her interest in scientific research. Additionally, Natasha studied abroad in Finland, where she worked in a lab studying brain diseases including Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s. This experience was sponsored by the NIH MIRT (Minority International Research Training) program, which funds international research opportunities in medical science for underrepresented students. (MIRT is now MHIRT – the Minority Health and Health Disparities International Research Training grant program.) After graduating, Natasha will continue in research in her professional life, but also hopes to “give back” to the effort to broaden participation in science. She looks forward to the opportunity to advise and otherwise support minority students. Her advice to prospective doctoral students now is to “do your research” before choosing an institution and committing several years of your life to the degree. She cautions that “science doesn’t always work,” meaning that, in many cases, researchers don’t obtain the answers they wanted – and they have to spend the time and energy to figure out why.