Summer work in Pathology Lab

Camryn looking through a microscope — Camryn looking into the microscope at a stained punch biopsy for peripheral neuropathy

Thank you to Camryn Vader, Class of 2023 Grand Challenge Scholar, for sharing some photos of her summer research project!

This summer, Camryn is working in a pathology lab in New York (affiliated with Stony Brook University), studying small fiber peripheral neuropathy, which affects small nerve fibers in the skin. The study Camryn is working on involves staining tissue samples for epidermal nerve fiber density testing, which is the most accurate test to detect small fiber peripheral neuropathy. This neurologically induced disease can cause skin sensitivity, unpleasant tingling, and/or pain, and most widely affects diabetics and alcoholics. Below are photos of samples Camryn worked on in the lab.

Microscope slide image that is a circle with white and pink stain throughout — View of the sample Camryn is analyzing under the microscope (showing an abnormal result, since the bright pink spots near the top are nerve roots that should be extending to the dermis in normal skin)

Camryn and colleague posing with a microscope slide sample. — Camryn and colleague, with Camryn holding a sample of a tick that is infected with Lyme Disease