Deans’ Summer Research Fellowship (DSRF) Story: Jane Ding

Jane was awarded the Deans' Summer Research Fellowship for summer 2025. Learn more about her time below.

Author: Jane Ding

What was your major research question for the DSRF project and where do you hope this project will go?

I was specifically studying how astrocytic delta-catenin may influence astrocyte development, a very important glial cell in the brain. During the summer, I found a trend where KO of astrocytic delta-catenin increased Zbtb20 expression, a transcription factor mainly found in upper-layer astrocytes, across all cortical layers. However, I need to increase the n of this experiment and optimize the analysis to fully conclude a significant trend. In the future, I hope to explore how this would influence the development of neurons.

What challenges did you encounter during your research and how did you work through these difficulties?

I encountered challenges with optimizing my imaging and analysis pipelines. These were resolved with the help of discussion with my supervisor and lab PI.

What sparked your interest in this field?

I was initially interested in neurobiology because I wanted to understand the pathology of certain neurological disorders (ex. Alzheimer's and ALS). 

Curious about DSRF?

This project was made possible through the Deans’ Summer Research Fellowship (DSRF)—a unique opportunity for rising juniors and seniors in the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences to pursue funded summer research full-time!  

Effective this 2025-2026 Academic year, we are rebranding DSRF to be the Trinity Summer Undergraduate Mentored Research Fellowship (T-SUMR)! If you're pursuing graduation with distinction and are passionate about research, consider applying to T-SUMR in December of your Sophomore or Junior year.