It is not just a simple conversation!

May 1st, 2022

This blog post is to detail the dialogic journey and process it has taken to get my research project off the ground.

In undergraduate studies, most student-faculty research projects are ones that the faculty Principal Investigator (PI) has on the side-lines and implements the project when there are enough students in the lab. The PI creates a strong direction for how the project goes to coach the students into learning what research is like. While this practice is the building block of undergraduate research, the end goal of the training process is to transition the research student into conducting the kind of original research taught in graduate level research programs. My undergraduate research project for McNair is an original research project on my part. My PI, Dr. Walsh, stipulated that he wants to start incorporating Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) into his work. My task was to start by researching how SERS applied to the research that Dr. Walsh is already doing with tissue cultures.

Original research is the end goal. Self learning is key.

A brief summary on SERS: Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy uses laser spectrophotometry to send a light wave at a metal probe located within a millimeter of the analyte. The nanoparticle probe can be colloidally suspended in a liquid that has the analyte dissolved in it, often binding to the analyte to ensure being within the one millimeter distance. The proximity of substrate and analyte creates a phenomenon called localized surface plasmon, which constructively builds the laser scattering signal, which is why the SE of SERS is called “surface enhanced,” the surface of the substrate enhances the laser wave that bounces off the sample to the detector to give a bigger signal.

Dr. Walsh gave me a starting point with some articles that he found on SERS. One article detailed what Dr. Blanco-Formoso and Dr. Alvarez-Puebla had accomplished with the SERS technique in regard to designing diagnostic tools that can be used to find cancer biomarkers in routine blood and saliva tests (Blanco-Formoso & Alvarez-Puebla, 2020). An article pointed out the current flaws in SERS methods that researchers need to overcome to make SERS a reliable and reproducible tool (Pérez-Jiménez et al., 2020). Another article used examples of the diverse ways that SERS works between aluminum, gold, silver, and other substrates and substrate shapes (Focsan et al., 2017; Gómez et al., 2018; Saletnik et al., 2021; Wuytens et al., 2015). From this point, I needed to do a lot of reading to begin to understand the SERS technique.

Reading articles is not enough.

After understanding a little more about SERS, I also had to look at how I can procure substrates for my project. Dr. Walsh suggested aluminum slides, but those often involved smearing cells onto the slide, destroying them. So, I needed to embark on a series of consultations with people who know a lot more about nanoparticles and Raman machinery than I do.

The kinds of conversations I had are things that can easily be missing in notebook records, and I have experiential knowledge that my note taking skills can always be more comprehensive. I am reminding me of my mistake here so I can continue to grow, and help be an example of those who may share the same struggle.

Conversations are in the moment, out of classroom environments. It is easy to forget a notebook and fail to take notes.

The first few conversations of my initial literature review odyssey I had were with Dr. L. Mc Ellistrem who trained me in using one of the Raman machines on campus. Since she knows a lot about material sciences and what projects her colleges have worked on, she was able to introduce me to those colleges whose work is relevant to my project.

Networking is not stressed enough how important it is in life and science. These initial conversations in undergraduate school are how one can learn to network organically. The college Dr. L. McEllistrem introduced me to was Dr. Bob. Dr. Bob conversed with me about the nature of producing nanoparticles for SERS Raman. Early in my project I was entertaining ideas of the different directions and methods I could use to accomplish my end goal. One of those directions was to make my own nanoparticles for SERS use. Dr. Bob was able to coach me on my decision. I did not have enough time to make my own nanoparticles, so I was better off buying some already made.

Taking what I learned from my consultations with nanoparticles, I moved to find a nanoparticle SERS substrate already on the market. My search started at nanoparticle suppliers suggested by Dr. Bob. From there, I expanded my options before finding a new startup company whose product had not yet been published as being tested in a variety of SERS settings. I chose to use the product I found based on evidence that other reputable labs have also bought the product, likely with high hopes of the product’s ability to address the drawbacks to SERS techniques and had compatibility with biological samples. I will use this product in my own experiment and learn the nuances of it to provide a report of how good a tool the SERS substrate product is for Dr. Walsh so that he may choose to use it in his future experiments.

Undergraduate experiments at well-known research institutions can afford risks and projects with neutral or negative results.

(Negative results are not bad, they are just inconclusive)

No matter that I was extremely interested in learning how to make my own nanoparticles, the time spent conversing with Dr. L. Mc Ellistrem and Dr. Bob were well spent. I may have taken a step backwards in my project planning, but better to take two steps down a path and decide it is not the correct one than to spend a month down and back. I am immensely grateful to have such knowledgeable people to work with at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. These conversations happened last Fall 2021 and Spring 2021. Without them, I would not have such a solid plan for my experiment that can occur in a timely manner for this summer. I am pleased to learn this month that my efforts are paying off in the form of an approved grant to fund my summer research. Thank you to those I consulted with about the elusive details of my project, Dr. L. Mc Ellistrem and Dr. Bob.

Advice for future students:

If you are going to ask questions of a professional whose expertise applies to your project, treat it like an interview and you are a journalist. It is not just a simple conversation, it is time spent working on your project with a collaborator and should be treated as such.

Blanco-Formoso, M., & Alvarez-Puebla, R. A. (2020). Cancer Diagnosis through SERS and Other Related Techniques [Review]. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 21(6), 20, Article 2253. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21062253

Focsan, M., Craciun, A. M., Potara, M., Leordean, C., Vulpoi, A., Maniu, D., & Astilean, S. (2017). Flexible and Tunable 3D Gold Nanocups Platform as Plasmonic Biosensor for Specific Dual LSPR-SERS Immuno-Detection [Article]. Scientific Reports, 7, 11, Article 14240. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-14694-1

Gómez, M., Kadkhodazadeh, S., & Lazzari, M. (2018). Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in the visible range on scalable aluminum-coated platforms [10.1039/C8CC04280B]. Chemical Communications, 54(75), 10638-10641. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8CC04280B

Pérez-Jiménez, A. I., Lyu, D., Lu, Z., Liu, G., & Ren, B. (2020). Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy: benefits, trade-offs and future developments [10.1039/D0SC00809E]. Chemical Science, 11(18), 4563-4577. https://doi.org/10.1039/D0SC00809E

Saletnik, A., Saletnik, B., & Puchalski, C. (2021). Overview of Popular Techniques of Raman Spectroscopy and Their Potential in the Study of Plant Tissues [Review]. Molecules, 26(6), 16, Article 1537. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26061537

Wuytens, P. C., Subramanian, A. Z., De Vos, W. H., Skirtach, A. G., & Baets, R. (2015). Gold nanodome-patterned microchips for intracellular surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy [Article]. Analyst, 140(24), 8080-8087. https://doi.org/10.1039/c5an01782c