Mariana Correia’s Sorbonne Experience (Hopper Lab)

Written by Andrew Savidge (Nakanishi lab)

Mariana Correia is a senior undergraduate student at Ohio State; she hails from our very own Columbus. Though Mariana is a biomedical engineering major, her passion for the broader life sciences has blossomed over the course of her education. Now in her final semester, Mariana has accrued a unique array of experiences in RNA biology, driven by her passion for research. 

Mariana took impressive initiative to enter the world of science while she was still in high school, interning as a student research assistant at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Under the guidance of Drs. Rodney Britt and Brandon Lewis, she studied immune responses in an asthmatic mouse model. These efforts contributed to her winning the Morrill scholarship upon graduation, an award for academic excellence. Once at Ohio State, she first worked in the humanities under Dr. Natasha Slesnick, where she compiled data on homeless youth and women. The next summer, she collaborated with Dr. David Dean through the James Comprehensive Cancer Center to develop a robot that prepared materials for bone grafts. 

As the end of her junior year approached, Mariana took a step back and recognized an area of interest she had not yet explored: RNA biology. Fortunately, she saw the announcement for Ohio State’s Students in Life Sciences Abroad (STILSA) program on Carmen, that would allow her to grow as a scientist in a lab overseas. Mariana was interested in a variety of the European labs listed, but was partial to those in France, citing her interest in the culture. This interest ultimately panned out, as she was accepted to her first choice at Sorbonne Université in Paris under Dr. Clément Carré.  

Dr. Carré’s research focuses on modeling human RNA biology in Drosophila, and Mariana’s project was no exception. With the popularization of whole genome sequencing as a diagnostic tool in the clinic, the genetic causes of several rare disorders have been unearthed, including Mariana’s focus during her internship: Argonaute syndrome. This disorder is named after the affected protein, Argonaute (AGO, which is coincidentally a family of proteins near and dear to my heart!) and manifests in early childhood through a distinct facial phenotype, learning disabilities, and seizures. AGO is commonly known for its role in RNA silencing, a process in all organisms that regulates the RNAs available for translation. Though humans have four Argonaute proteins (AGO1-4), Argonaute syndrome can be caused by a single point mutation in any one of these AGOs. However, the simplicity of this change is deceptive, as no model can currently explain how just one change in the sequence of AGO can cause massive neural dysfunction.

Mariana and the team at Sorbonne set out to establish a model for Argonaute syndrome in Drosophila. Their mission was to first knock out the fly AGO proteins, introduce mutated human AGOs, and then quantify their genetic effects. Her arrival coincided with the early stages of the project, so most of her time was spent quantifying the success of AGO knockout lines. Carré’s reporter system changes the wing shape of flies without AGO, so Mariana would dissect, image, and analyze each batch of flies to determine how enriched each generation was for the desired genotype.

While experiments were a large part of Mariana’s day-to-day experience, she was also processing the dramatic shift in her environment. Only some of her peers spoke English, and she was only able to contact her mentor, Dr. Patrice Hamel, the director of the STILSA program, over Zoom. She recalled how challenging it was to find her footing in the beginning with the communication barrier. As a representative of OSU, and as an American, Mariana wanted to make sure she made a good impression. Carré even urged her to present in a journal club to the lab during her second week, which was “extremely terrifying”. She recalls, “That summer, I didn’t struggle with the research, but I was worried about being respectful and not coming off the wrong way.” However, her poise and positive attitude eventually eased her into her new surroundings. Once she felt comfortable approaching her labmates, she mentioned how eager people were to help, even if their words didn’t always perfectly convey their intended meaning. 

Mariana also mentioned that each member of her STILSA cohort had different lab experiences based on their selected PI. While her lab was very social, other members had quieter daily routines, and some had a more intense lab schedule based on the type of experiments they conducted. Despite these varied experiences, she said the expectations and quality of work seemed to be consistent between labs in America and abroad. She also felt that the work-life balance was more well-defined in France, something that was deeply ingrained into the culture. She recounted that everyone would leave the office for lunch, often in groups, and include a healthy dose of informal interactions outside of the lab. She said this greatly contributed to her enjoyment of her work, and she wants to carry a small piece of those traditions to her next lab. 

Altogether, Mariana’s time abroad positively contributed to her interest in research and in RNA biology, which has become the field she is interested in pursuing after graduation. With this experience, Mariana has considered applying for a Fulbright Scholarship or working in another RNA lab to gain more experience before pursuing graduate school. Until then, she will continue to work as a research assistant in Dr. Anita Hopper’s lab, where she studies tRNA introns. As her research toolkit continues to expand, she is no doubt well-prepared for whatever venture next catches her eye. Dr. Hamel spoke with Mariana in the middle of her internship, noting that she looked particularly confident and bright. He mentioned that the reason he wants students to participate in STILSA is because he “wants to see everyone’s international glow”. Experiencing a new country in a new city, within a new lab with new people, Mariana says she learned even more about herself than she thought she would. She was capable of getting up to do new things just because she wanted to – an urge that, through her exploration of research, seems to have always been within her. But now, with her experience as a senior student and budding scientist, feels fully in her control.