Carla Cobbs

I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland where I attended high school at Western School for Environmental Science and Technology. I am currently a rising senior at Bowie State University where my major is Biology and minor is Chemistry.

I worked under Lisa Dixon, M.D., M.P.H., who is the Director of the Center for Mental Health Services Research. Her current research is dealing with Schizophrenia and she published an article on Schizophrenia and Diabetes. In the research on which her article was based, she found that African Americans had poor diabetes control when compared to the Caucasians. My assignment was to review the literature on the outcomes of racial differences between African Americans with type 2 diabetes and Caucasian with type 2 diabetes.

Overall, my experiences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have been beneficial. Through this experience I learned many valuable lessons. For instance, how to search for journal articles containing what you are looking for. I also experienced some set backs as well. Research and researchers can be very evasive and you are either on target or you are not. However, it was explained to me that setbacks and going down the wrong path are apart of ultimately achieving your goal.

Moreover, I met incredible, knowledgeable people (Dr. Dixon, her research assistants) in the research office. I always felt supported and appreciated.

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