Tonight I watched a twenty-four-minute ASMCUE 2022 session entitled “Using Dry Lab Effectively to Counter Minimalistic to None Research Laboratory Facilities.” Dr. Rabia Nawaz presented and explained they did two visiting researcher experiences at the CDC in Atlanta and at the University of Glasgow. Nawaz is at The Superior University in Pakistan. They explained that at their institution, they faced a scarcity of lab equipment. Nawaz offers authentic scientific research experiences to students with dry lab projects. However, they explained that there are other opportunities for research projects with undergraduates without lab work. These include case reports, review articles, systematic reviews/meta analyses, cross sectional survey based studies, and in silico studies. Nawaz explained that they did Google Scholar searches for key terms. They explained analyzing sequence questions with databases and sequence repositories using free tools. Nawaz works on HCV and now SARS CoV2. Some strategies and approaches include a variety of computational and statistical ways of analyzing sequences. Nawaz explained how they use siRNAs to target specific genes. For example, they found sequences and then invited participants to analyze them. It seems like Nawaz has combined their research expertise with pedagogy to provide research experiences for trainees.
