My HackBio Internship Experience
A Bioinformatics Journey
Who am I?
I am Alfred Akinlalu from Nigeria and I am on the verge of completing my Master’s degree program in Biochemistry. I am looking to explore the field of drug discovery and development as I use bioinformatic tools towards the accomplishment of this goal.
My research interest is pivoted towards the use of biotechnological tools and structure activity relationships of proteins in the development of novel therapeutics and treatment of diseases. I love to use my learning and experience to proffer solutions to arising health issues. This is why I have undertaken research studies on enzymes capable of degrading textile wastes, chemotherapy-induced toxicity in female cancer patients amidst other investigational studies that cut across environmental biochemistry, cancer research, and infectious diseases.
I love to learn and explore tools that can enhance my capacity and productivity in solving problems in the life sciences. Hence, the more reason I was excited about the HackBio Internship program.
My Internship Experience
When I saw the acceptance mail for the internship, I was so excited that I started anticipating the next steps towards the onboarding process. As it is my first virtual internship experience, I became more enthusiastic about the program when I found out it would be an international collaboration among scientists where some are my peers and others with more experience would be involved. My dedication towards the internship became sown and I look forward to the coming weeks of research and collaborations.
The HackBio internship experience has been very fruitful for me. Over the course of the few weeks I have been able to learn and explore more of my interests in the following areas:
- Bioinformatics and Drug Development
The internship experience was really intense and engaging. I had previously come across writeups and articles on the field of computational biology where the use of programming languages and simulations is applied to life sciences towards research breakthroughs and solutions. However, I have not had any hands-on experience. Commencing the internship, through the tasks and assignments given and the support of my team members, I have been able to explore, navigate and use some bioinformatics tools and software such as Pyrx, Biovia Discovery Studio, PyMol, databases, etc. This has further broadened my research horizon and the possibilities in life sciences research.
2. Teamwork, Collaboration, and Networking
Since the internship is virtual and open to the international community, the program was designed for us to work in teams formed randomly. This exposed me to working and networking with scientists from different parts of the world. I learned to use platforms that support collaboration such as using Google Drive, Zoom Meetings, Sharing Screens, setting up GitHub profiles (https://github.com/alfrediolu), and Slack. This would really help in providing a global network of opportunities and productivity. The need for such collaborative methods in a time as this is very important. I was able to meet amazing teammates as Suritra Bandyopadhyay, Annapoorna Chamundi, Dr. Funmilayo Afolayan, Dr. Ijeoma Duru, and Yakumbur Donald who are professionals in related fields and instrumental to my success at the internship as I have learned a lot from them and vice versa.
3. Communication
The ability to communicate scientific principles in layman’s language can be daunting when you have to do away with the technical jargon you are used to and express yourself in simple terms. The internship has engaged me in the use of social media networks such as Twitter and Medium in the expression of scientific ideas, discoveries, and effective communication among scientists and the world.
4. Learning under little or no supervision
The internship gave me a feel of what scientists do on a daily basis towards problem-solving and research discovery. I had to do a lot of findings to learn ways and methods to address the tasks and assignments given which is usually concerned with a solution approach towards trending problems such as COVID-19 pandemic research and bioinformatics tools and approaches that can be used. I was surprised how much I have been able to learn when I also try to help out some of my colleagues in the internship when faced with a challenge of a navigating and using a tool such as Datawarrior in the processing and library formation of ligands related to the research study carried out. Also, I appreciate the invaluable support I got from mentors such as Dr. Ojochenemi Enejoh, Michael Arowosegbe, and Niyi Adelakun who were there to provide guidance and advice when I seemed stuck during the internship.
Conclusion
In all, I was able to participate in a Drug Development research study where we investigated the drug repurposing approach towards the novel coronavirus, and my Biochemistry knowledge and writing skills came in handy. From getting the target proteins to preparing the ligands, carrying out molecular docking, and other activities involved in the research study, I was able to display my expertise and pick up new skills on the way.
Although at some point, I was faced with the fear of being dropped from the internship as I saw some programming tasks and feared I was just a beginner. Through the resourcefulness of my team, mentors, and my determination not to give up at this stage, I was able to scale through. Even though, I hope the organizers can take into consideration a program that is more beginner-friendly to avoid intimidation and more people to learn and grow in this field.
I would like to conclude that it has been a wonderful experience and I feel equipped to be able to carry out independent and collaborative research in the use of bioinformatics tools in drug development.
Thank you HackBio for the opportunity!
Alfred O. Akinlalu
Email: alfrediolu@gmail.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alfred-akinlalu
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alfrediolu
