Oluwabusola Ajagbe

Oluwabusola is originally from Lagos, Nigeria, which is a huge part of her identity and has shaped the way she interacts with people and how she views the world as a whole. Busola’s interest in the field of medicine, specifically neuroscience, stems from her curiosity about the human body and ways to resolve pain, her passion for learning, and for meeting and helping people.

Below Oluwabusola has shared more about her interests and goals:

“Medicine is an ever growing and evolving field that looks at discovering the issue with different parts of the body, assessing the patient and finding the best way to resolve the issue. Despite the difficulties and uncertainties that come with the field of medicine, there is a sense of curiosity and continuous learning process that doctors possess throughout their lifetime which makes the field ever evolving. I am currently a sophomore pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience with a minor in Chinese. With my college experience and degree, I plan on becoming a physician scientist who is always curious and open to learning. 

“Ever since I was young, I found the idea of how plants grew, how humans came to exist on earth, and much more fascinating. I loved learning about how the mixing of different chemicals in the lab can form helpful solutions for humans which have led to the creation of many medications and cures to diseases. As I got older, I began to learn about the vastness of science and how it spans from the known and unknown. Learning that there is more to science than meets the eyes fueled my curiosity for learning about the human body, specifically how to know when the body is sick, how to assess the illness, and how to help the person feel better. That was when I discovered the field of medicine which connects my passion for meeting and helping people, learning more about the human body and ways to resolve pain, and my passion for learning. 

“Prior to coming into MSU, I wanted to choose a major that connected my curiosity for the human body as well as my new found interest in the human brain. The decision of neuroscience being my major was as a result of how I felt it would help me find answers to questions I had started to want to answer such as how is there a level of superiority between the brain and the heart especially when either one is damaged, a person can lose their life? What causes the brain to deviate from its normal functions? As a second year at MSU, I have found that majoring in neuroscience has helped me expand my curiosity from being just related to the science of the human body to understanding the importance of connection with diverse people, thoughts, and opinions. This broadness of curiosity and my willingness to learn enabled me to pick up a minor in Chinese which has further evolved my understanding of the human brain, especially looking at how second language learners form sentences and learn a new language. 

Despite how much I have grown as a learner and a person through my major, minor, and my college experience, I believe that the more I get through college and meet and interact with more people, the more I can build myself to become a physician scientist, who is persistent, determined, always curious, and delights in learning.”

Oluwabusola is really grateful to have the opportunity to gain research experience firsthand because it has taught her how to better collaborate with others, how to interpret and communicate her findings, how to multitask and stay on top of other tasks, and to understand that consistently repeating a test or procedure does not necessarily mean that the experiment is not going well but rather that consistent data is needed to push a finding ahead and that repetition also helps hers become better at a skill or procedure. 

Working in a research lab has helped her to see and experience what it takes to be a researcher and has shown her other fulfilling career options related to her major outside of going to medical school.

SEXUAL DIMORPHIC EXPRESSION OF INTERLEUKIN-1β IN MOUSE MODEL OF INFLAMMATORY PAIN

Mentor(s):  Geoffroy Laumet, Ph.D.

Chronic pain is reported to affect at least 10 percent of the world’s population and about 50.2 million Americans daily. Chronic pain is reported to be more prevalent in females than males. Chronic pain occurs as a result of unresolved inflammation, an immune system response to injury or infection. Interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is a cytokine that regulates inflammation through various immune responses and an important mediator of pain. We hypothesized that the immune response associated with pain, more specifically the expression of IL-1β, will be different between male and female mice. To test this hypothesis, we induced inflammatory pain in adult female and male mice by injecting complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA) into the pain. CFA is known to induce inflammation and pain. Pain sensitivity was measured by von Frey filaments and expression of IL-1β was assessed by qPCR from skin samples. Results: Inflammation resolved faster in male than female mice. IL-1β is upregulated in the skin in response to CFA but IL-1β expression remained higher in female than male mice. To test if this effect is mediated by androgen hormone, male mice underwent orchidectomy (Orx, castration) and female mice ovariectomy and implanted with dihydrotestosterone pellet (Ovx + DHT). Orx increased the upregulation of IL-1β compared to control males, while Ovx+DHT treatment reduced IL-1β upregulation in females to a level similar to males.  Identifying the difference in the sensitivity of pain in males and females may provide ways to further identify how to develop sex-specific treatments and help combat pain more effectively.

Poster

Oluwabusola’s shares her thoughts on Drew Scholars:

“When I first learned that MSU was a large school in terms of both size and number of students, I was a bit worried about whether I would fit in. To find ways to combat this issue, I started looking into ways that I can join clubs and groups so as to have a sense of family or community while on campus. One of the days while I was prepping for school, I went to the mail box and saw a flier inviting me to sign up to become a part of the Charles Drew Scholars program. As I knew nothing about the program, I researched and discovered that the program would be a good opportunity for me to make friends, and feel comfortable in the new environment I was about to become a part of for the next four years of my life. Closer to when we were to move to campus, that was when I started getting worried about if I would be able to fit in into the Drew scholars program. Despite having all these worries in mind, I decided to be open to new experiences and to not worry too much. 

“Getting on campus, I got to meet my roommate who was also a Drew scholar and who eventually made my freshman year a very experiential and enjoyable transition. Through her, I got to learn about some cultural differences between us and about her passions and personal goals which has guided me on how to find my passions and how to shape my life. My relating with her introduced me to the roundtable discussions which eventually led to my becoming an Intercultural aide. Aside from my roommate, Ola, who was our RA at the time, was another Drew scholar who helped me to find my place as a Nigerian both on our floor and in MSU. Her guidance, advice, and support helped me to step out of my comfort zone and to relate with people on the floor. 

“Aside from living on the Drew floor, the mentor-mentee program that the Drew program has was another way I got to meet my mentor, Dorah, who always reached out to find out how I was doing, if needed anything and who always made herself available to advise me whenever I reached out to her. Alongside the people I met, I really benefited from the NSC 100 and 200 classes because I got to learn what professionalism is, time management, learning skills, how to find my purpose, self care, how to write a CV, resume, and personal statement, and how to be ready for an interview. Another reason I appreciate the Drew Scholars program is the chance to have an advisor who is interested in my life goals, how I am feeling and doing generally, in addition to balancing the workload of the classes I am taking toward my major. All these and much more are reasons I am grateful for being a member of the Drew program.”

Member, African Student Union (ASU)

E-Board, MSU CLC

Research Assistant

Intercultural Aide, Office of Cultural & Academic Transitions

CEM 141 Undergraduate Learning Assistant, Chemistry Department

Recipient, Spartan Volunteer Service Award

Recipient, Virtual Summer of Service Platinum Award

Recipient, Virtual Summer of Service Bronze Award

Oluwabusola’s advice to peers and successors:

“College is a place to discover yourself and give yourself the grace to make mistakes, it’s okay because making mistakes is part of growing.”