Jacqueline majored in psychology, philosophy and government.
As a then-rising senior, Jacqueline Allen ’23 knew going into the Summer 2022 Nexus Scholars Program that she wanted to pursue a graduate degree in Neuroscience. From her point of view, the experience she gained as a Nexus Scholar served as “evidence to back up” her aspiration. Jacqueline worked in the lab of Prof. Katherine Tschida, psychology, studying the brain regions involved in the development of vocal communication in mouse pups.
In an “atypical” path to becoming a Nexus Scholar, Jacqueline had some prior research experience in moral and social psychology, studying individuals’ moral behavior and identity based on their responses to surveys. However, working in the Tschida lab was her first full-time neuroscience research experience.
“To go from moral behavior assessed through surveys to looking at the brains of mouse pups was a huge leap,” she said. “Through the Nexus Scholars Program, I got a taste of what neuroscience research is really like, and [learned] what it is like to work in a lab all day.”
Jacqueline is now a second-year Ph.D. candidate in Neuroscience at Northwestern University, studying Alzheimer’s disease, particularly why certain neurons die early in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. “Even though what I studied in the Nexus Scholars Program isn’t directly what I study [now], the experience in the lab [and] the overall introduction to working with the brain was super influential.” After earning her Ph.D. in a few years, Jacqueline is considering pursuing a career as a medical science liaison, consultant, or working as a scientist full-time.
As a word of advice, Jacqueline encourages current Nexus Scholars to make an effort to see the “big picture,” or the wider importance of their research. “Understand what you’re doing at a high level. Not just understanding [tasks such as] knowing how to use a pipette, but making sure that you’re understanding why you’re doing what you’re doing.” Jacqueline emphasized the importance of big-picture thinking in graduate school admissions and cited effective communication with mentors as a method of finding the big picture. “Sometimes you’re going to have to ask the questions, [and] you’re not going to know if you don’t ask.”
