Student Research Spotlight: Jackson Gamer (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program)

Jackson Gamer is a graduate student in the Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program and Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine (INIM) Research Fellow in NSU’s Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (KPCOM).

 

Talk me through your journey to where you are at NSU now.

I am originally from Massachusetts and I attended college at Wake Forest University. While in my undergraduate program, I was enrolled in a program where I helped underprivileged individuals navigate the healthcare system. For example, I worked with a cancer patient who had difficulty understanding their diagnosis, and I attended his treatments with him and got to experience what it’s like to be a patient. This experience inspired me to want to go into healthcare.

After college, I knew I wanted to make an impact and do research in an area that was going to be helpful for people with diseases that are commonly not given a lot of light in the medical field. I received a post-baccalaureate grant from NIH to do research in sickle cell disease at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. I worked in this role for two years on gene therapy in pursuit of a cure for sickle cell disease. This project started with mice and my job was to make sure what we were doing was increasing the expression of a certain gene. This project then moved onto monkey trials, and findings from this group were published this year in the New England Journal of Medicine with human clinical trial research.

 

How have you been engaged in research at the university?

In one of my classes, Dr. Lubov Nathanson (KPCOM, INIM) guest lectured on genetics and I was so interested in her work that I reached out to her. During my M1 and 2 years I helped her with data analysis and then received a research fellowship to do work with Dr. Nathanson on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and Gulf War Illness.

Currently, I am finishing a research project investigating stress in patients with ME/CFS by having them exercise on a bike to see how they react compared to healthy controls. In another project I am analyzing data from RNA sequencing from circulating immune cells of Gulf War Illness patients to figure out how they are different from healthy control. I also had presented a poster at the American Society of Human Genetics conference.

 

What made you interested in this type of research?

I am interested in diseases that are not as well understood, funded, or appreciated in the medical field. Since completing my NIH fellowship and after working in the lab at NSU, this interest has strengthened.

 

How does this work relate to your future career goals, and what do you plan to do next?

I know I want to do academic medicine including teaching residents, doing my own research, and taking care of patients. I had conducted research prior to attending NSU, but now I have lab experience, and experience with writing papers and doing data analysis.

 

What advice do you have for other students interested in getting involved in research?

Try finding something you are passionate about and someone who can be a great mentor, providing you research opportunities and advice. Find something new and interesting!