Researcher Profiles
From online learning to laboratory setting
When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, Noppasorn Nuntikulvanich was a junior studying Biomedical Science in Mahidol University. What would have been the time for her to join a lab and perform experiments as an undergraduate intern was replaced, instead, with online lectures. Shortly after graduating, Nuntikulvanich joined the AT lab, looking to acquire as much skill as she can as a researcher before pursuing further studies.
Prior to joining the AT lab, Nuntikulvanich had no experience with lab work. She has since adapted proficiency in performing laboratory techniques such as: cell culture, collecting, organizing and processing serums samples, and serological assays like ELISA. When asked what her favorite thing to do in the lab was, her response was “I like [doing] cell culture. It’s the most interesting thing that I’ve done here.” She adds that it was fascinating to cultivate different types of cell lines, because they possess different characteristics and each one requires a specific approach.
Nuntikulvanich goes on to say that her practice in the AT lab not only enriched her professional skills, but also her personal outlook. “[In the AT Lab] I’m surrounded by people who are passionate about their work, it compels me to work as hard as they do.” Besides that, majority of the people working in the AT lab are women, as a young researcher starting out her career, seeing that empowers her to pursue anything that she wants.
Having been accepted as an incoming graduate student in several prestigious universities, Nuntikulvanich is set to start her masters education in the United Kingdom this coming fall, where she is going to be studying tissue engineering.
In the future, she would want to work with human organs, particularly using 3D printing techniques to generate organs that simulate the human body to help those who are in need. Her interest in human tissues and organs started out when she was younger, but her accumulated experience, including the ones she gathered in the AT lab helped propel her to her future as a scientist.
— Jikka Nealiga
