After completing rigorous university courses, an honours research project, and many hours of volunteer work, undergraduate student Libny Pierre-Louis wrapped up her bachelor’s degree with remarkable academic results, a place in medical school, and a growing interest in scientific research.
Libny considers that her most significant accomplishment to date is the completion of her honours research project with Professor Katie Gilmour in the Department of Biology. She tackled an exciting project studying the involvement of the serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT) in anxiety-related behaviour in larval zebrafish. Her project used a SERT knockout line created by PhD student Kevin Pan. As an undergraduate student, Libny had no prior experience in scientific research. However, with mentoring from Kevin and Katie, Libny completed her honours project with distinction and developed a keen interest in scientific research and the usefulness of zebrafish for investigating problems of relevance to human health. She thoroughly enjoyed her time in the laboratory.
Libny began medical school in fall 2020. She believes her research experience will benefit her greatly because it allowed her to develop valuable skills including critical thinking, effective communication, and time management. Indeed, Katie was impressed by Libny’s ability to juggle the many demands on her time while prioritizing progress on her honours project. Libny is heavily engaged in community activities such as volunteering, tutoring and participating in various academic clubs. During her third year at the University of Ottawa, Libny and other undergraduate students founded the International Relief Student’s Association (IRSA) to help raise awareness and funds for developing countries affected by natural disasters.
To gain this experience while achieving excellent academic results, Libny found it essential to be involved on campus and to have a well-balanced schedule that allowed for studying and extracurricular activities, but also down time. Her advice to students interested in research is that “volunteering or working in a lab early on is a good way to determine whether research is truly what you’d like to do.”
Finally, Libny greatly appreciated the opportunity to develop her interest in research through an honours project in a supportive environment where she could interact with graduate students and take advantage of the outstanding aquatics facility at uOttawa. On her end, Katie greatly appreciated the energy and enthusiasm that Libny brought to her research project!
