Author: salmas082

Today was a bittersweet moment – our last day at FHI 360, which is incredibly sad, but also one of our last days of school, which is not as incredibly sad (ask Krishna, RJ, or Chiara – I need sleep). I’m writing this at 10:30 because our Work Experience has officially finished!

We spent the morning at the CTID Monthly Team Meeting with the ENTIRE department, (a couple there by phone) where Dr. Dorflinger gave a quick update, Kate Rademacher gave an announcement, and, finally, we gave the YTH project presentation. I’ve discussed it a little bit, but, again, we chose to utilize Instagram as a way to both educate the public through the posts, as well as hear comments and opinions through polls and live question and answer sessions. The first couple of slides discuss our marketing plan, in which we hypothetically pair up with Swell(TM) to gain traction and increase our follower count, as well as support developing countries who are struggling with water sanitation or water scarcity. The group loved it, and suggested we look into doing it as our Senior Capstone! I’m really excited to look into that!

All in all, an awesome experience! Not sure I would be able to count the number of times we commented about how lucky we were over these two weeks, but it probably wasn’t enough.

You might be curious about the title of this blog post, and I’ll get to that right now. Today was full of conversations with people from incredibly different departments, positions, and roles in the organization. This diversity is especially highlighted by the fact that we have mostly been talking to people in the CTID department, and we barely crossed paths with these people today!

We started off with Todd Bachman and Vanessa Cooke, who are in charge of Procurement Administration. Essentially, they work with FHI 360 after they have been approved to do research to make sure that they have the materials necessary. It seemed to me that their job was an interesting mixture of accounting, networking, and business. They also brought us some items from many different companies, such as tiny cars and yo-yos, which we played with for the rest of the day.

After a very short lunch break of half an hour, we met with Hannah Goetz, who went to Cary Academy and is now interning at CTID. This was an incredibly interesting conversation because her knowledge of Cary Academy gave her a unique perspective and allowed us to make the conversation more specific to us. Her talk about her experience taught me how crucial it is to step out of your comfort zone and interact with those around you, especially in college.

Next, Anna Lawton, who works with BECS, came and talked to us about human-centered design. She described the idea behind her research as “soft science;” essentially, while “hard science” is quantitative and based off of hard facts, her type of research is based off of interviews and other qualitative information. She talked about a trip she took and the research she did there, including individual interviews and group interviews. This was a really interesting new side to research that I had never really considered.

Lastly, Margaret Groves, the Director of Regulatory Affairs, came and discussed her career and the regulatory affairs department. Essentially, this was the legal side to research, which requires making sure that all of the research is following protocol so that it can be utilized when it is finished. The most interesting part of this conversation was when we talked about how, when you are doing research in multiple countries (which is done a LOT at FHI 360), you typically go by the most stringent research regulations so that you can publish your information everywhere. I had never really thought about all the consideration that went into research, so this was very interesting.

Overall, a great day! We talked to a bunch of amazing and passionate people, finished all of our projects (!!), and ate some delicious burgers. I can’t complain!

Another busy day! We began with a bit of free time, in which we decided to start the 2 supplementary tasks we were assigned. In one, Dr. Lara Lorenzetti, who is researching ways (specifically “savings groups”) to get those in developing countries to adhere to their HIV medicine. She asked for our help in looking through all of the literature to determine which pieces would be useful to her research. In the other, Dr. Rebecca Callahan did research and asked for help in beginning to develop a Powerpoint for her to present her findings. We decided to split it up, with RJ and I working on the former and Chiara and Krishan working on the latter. RJ and I read SO many articles (hence the blog title), but we actually became pretty fast and worked together well. It felt great to know that this small task we were doing would be used for something way bigger than ourselves.

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^^ click to see how many articles we sorted through today

We also talked to a couple of people today. First, Dr. Jennifer Ayres discussed her role in the CTID. She had a really interesting perspective because she was one of the only chemists at FHI 360. To tell you the truth, I had been waiting to meet with her since I learned about her chemistry background a couple of days into the job. While talking to her, we learned even more about contraceptives and how they work, specifically as it relates to drugs and dosages.

After we took an hour to explore main street and eat lunch, we headed back to talk to Chris Harmon. He discussed his work with the CTID, which was incredibly different from the others’ in that he was mainly focusing on the technology aspect at the moment. Basically, he was working on compiling a couple of different databases. One was to compile all of the contraceptive technologies that were being worked on, one was a database of the main chemicals that were in contraceptives, and one was a system to determine if using two drugs at once would give negative side effects. I thought the third was the most interesting, as it has to be a pretty complicated system for you to be able to go through all the different pairings and get an answer.

Finally, we met with Holly Burke. She was also a scientist, but she worked for the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health division (RMNCH). She talked to us about the research aspect of her job, including the studies she had done with injectables and the results that she had gotten. She also talked to us about her career and her journey as a whole.

All in all, a great day! Can’t wait for tomorrow, where we will have 4 (!!) back-to-back meetings and will hear MANY perspectives!

Although we didn’t interact with as many FHI 360 employees today, our many projects ensured that our day was as full as always. The first hour of our day was spent working on the innovation project that I have told you all oh so much about. Finally, after another session of hard work, we finished our presentation!

Next, we spoke to Dr. Greg Kopf, Director of R&D in the group that we are working with, the Contraceptive Technology Innovation Department. He provided an incredibly unique insight into his journey and gave us lots of career and life advice. Our conversation with him was invaluable.

After some more time to work and lunch at Basan, the sushi restaurant nearby – their BuyOne GetOne HalfOff deal on Mondays had been LONG awaited by Krishan, RJ, Chiara, and I – we met with Kristine Torjesen. She is a pediatrician by training, but is currently a scientist who has a large leadership role in clinical trials. As someone who is ABSOLUTELY a leader and rather than a follower and has loved her leadership roles this year, our talk with her really resonated with me. Whatever field I go into, I know I eventually want to have leading and decision-making abilities.

Finally, we sat in on a meeting with the person who deals with contraceptives at the National Institute of Health. I would be lying if I said I understood more than 20% of the conversation, but it was still interesting to listen in on. Finally, after this meeting, we joined a retirement party for one of the FHI 360 employees. We enjoyed the company of all these intelligent and sweet people, as well as an assortment of desserts.

the long-awaited sushi

Today was, unsurprisingly, another awesome day at FHI 360! When the first hour of our day was dedicated to working on our main project and going to get waffles, I knew that we would have a rigorous yet fun day. We did quite a bit of brainstorming during this period, and finalized our idea to utilize Instagram. Even though we had agreed yesterday to use the poll feature of the Instagram story, use posts to educate, and use live videos to answer questions, we focused in on the details, such as what questions to ask and what the format of our posts would be. We even created a real Instagram account to show the samples of account stories, posts, and live videos. We also solved another important part of our project, which was deciding how to gain publicity for our account. We had the idea to collaborate with big name accounts to gain interest and support underdeveloped countries. Our example of this is pairing up with Swell, the water bottle company, to create a collection of water bottles created by artists in an underdeveloped country. A portion of the profits from this collection would go directly to the country where the art came from. Additionally, we would start a giveaway, where Instagram users can do a few simple things, such as tagging friends and answering the poll questions, to get the chance to win one (or many) of these Swell bottles.

from waffles –> the grind

Throughout the day, we worked on this idea and developed the presentation, in between the speakers that came and joined us. First, Merywen Wigley, Project Director of Integrated Development, and her intern Kara came to join us. They discussed the humanitarian crises that were occurring and showed us some videos. I would be lying if I told you I wasn’t crying by the end of it. However, while I was watching, in between my anger at the injustice and my sadness, I decided that helping these refugees was absolutely something that I would love to explore doing for the rest of my life. With my love for service, language, and science, it could be perfect for me.

After lunch, we talked to Sara Tenorio, the Director of Research Ethics. She discussed all the processes that they have to go through in order to ensure that all people involved in research are there by choice and are aware of the possible harms and benefits. This was really interesting and really taught me more about the legal side of healthcare.

Lastly, we talked to Kyle Healy, the son of an FHI 360 employee and a current student at App State. He talked to us about the gap year that he took, including what he did there and what he learned. It sounded like an incredible experience for him, and it definitely made me consider taking a gap year!

Today was absolutely one for the books – we had some awesome discussions, learned even more about IUDs and reproductive health, and even toured a testing lab.

We began with a conversation with Irina Yacobsen. She told us all about how she was a practicing doctor in Russia, but decided it was too much hassle to go through the process of becoming a doctor when she moved to the US, leading to her going into Public Health. She discussed all the awesome projects that she has been working on, all of which are intended to train volunteers and medical professionals in developing countries, as opposed to just doing the work themselves. The way see it, it’s kind of like teaching a man to fish instead of giving a man a fish (as the old saying goes).

Next (my favorite part of the day), we went to the FHI 360 lab, called PQC. The first part of the tour was testing for medical devices, but we mostly saw condom testing. We watched them blow up a condom (it was HUGE and burst at about 50 L of air) and put water in them to check for leaks, as well as submerge unopened condoms in water to check for leaks.

Next, we got to the second part of the lab, in which they use chemistry, mostly to determine the composition of different pills. This part was especially intriguing because me and the other advanced chemistry kids were able to understand a surprising amount of what they did, and had even done labs on some of it. The experience only solidified my love for the subject.

After we got back and had lunch, we met with two other incredible people. First, Marta Pirazdeh talked to us about her role, which was very unique as she focused more on the “marketing” side than the “medicine” side. Her idea was that research doesn’t matter if you aren’t able to convey the information to the appropriate audience and share it, so her job as a technical officer was to introduce visual products and education to use the research.

Finally, we met with Dr. David Hubacher, a scientist who was VERY widely loved at FHI 360. He shared a lot with us about IUDS, including his collection of all the different types over the years (see below). He had endless knowledge at the tip of his tongue, so much so that there wasn’t a question he couldn’t answer.

After we picked his brain for almost double the allotted time, it was time to call it a day and rest our brains. Can’t wait for tomorrow!