Camille Hardiman

My name is Camille Hardiman, and I am currently in the Heart, Lung, and Blood Program. I have the opportunity to work in two departments, the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC) and the Baltimore VAMHCS, and the Obesity and Diabetes Research Center at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

I am a rising sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and am currently interested in going to medical school. However, after talking with various people from the program, working in a research-intensive environment, and attending the seminars, I am developing an interest in the M.D.-PhD program.

I grew up in Silver Spring, MD and graduated from Springbrook High School. I then moved onto my current university, where I am studying English and am pre-med. I am very fortunate to have been in the Heart, Lung, and Blood program, working with my mentor, Dr. Heidi Ortmeyer. She is working on a project assessing the effectiveness of a drug, PPAR, on diabetes and its symptoms. If the PPAR study continues to go well, the drug may actually help in preventing diabetes.

My project was specifically on one of the enzymes that affects, and is affected by, diabetes. I worked independently after Dr. Ortmeyer and her team trained me, but still enjoyed collaborative experiences. I met and worked with the animal technicians, it was amazing working on monkey tissue with the monkeys two rooms over! I met other lead investigators that were working on similar diabetes projects, and had time to meet their trainees as well.

Overall, this experience gave me invaluable insight into the research field, from the people I met, to the hands-on experience and the weekly presentations. We worked tremendously hard, but I am quite pleased with both the journey, and the end result.

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