Muhlenberg athletes are spending the summer of 2024 enjoying fantastic experiences on campus, in their hometowns, across the country and even around the world. Rising sophomore men's lacrosse player Chase Kusko wrote about his summer research of traumatic brain injuries at Lehigh University.

This summer I had the opportunity to study traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) at Lehigh University as part of Lehigh's STEM-Summer Institutes (STEM-SI) interdisciplinary undergraduate research program. The 10-week research intensive program allowed me to gain valuable laboratory experience as well as participate in professional developments workshops and seminars. 

My project was part of research conducted under the guidance of Professor Neal Simon, a professor in Lehigh's department of biological sciences, and Dr. Shi-Fang Lu, a research scientist within the department. Our research team, which included six additional undergraduate researchers from Lehigh University, focused our efforts on mild TBIs, which are more commonly known as concussions. 

Previous work in our laboratory studied the effectiveness of specific medications on TBIs when administered immediately following the injury. My research group's studies this summer were directed towards looking at how effective the medication was on TBIs when not administered immediately following the injury. 

At the end of the 10 weeks of research, we presented a poster on our findings to Lehigh faculty, students, and alumni judges as part of Lehigh's Research Day Expo, which included nearly 100 posters and presentations highlighting undergraduate research that was conducted this summer across Lehigh's campus. Research Day was a unique experience because I not only had the opportunity to present and share what I learned this summer, but I also met other undergraduate researchers from various academic disciplines to learn more about their work.

At the conclusion of Research Day, there was an awards ceremony, during which my team was fortunate enough to come away with the first-place prize for our research.

I am grateful for the opportunity to participate in STEM-SI this summer and to be welcomed into Dr. Simon's biological sciences laboratory. As I continue to decide on my academic focus moving forward, I was introduced to many real-world applications of the concepts I learned during my freshman year at Muhlenberg. I would strongly recommend Lehigh's STEM-SI program to Muhlenberg students who are interested in a research experience in the future.