Landhing
studies the cognitive abilities of HIV-infected rats, including what they can
they learn and remember, and whether phytoestrogens protect neurological cells
against the harmful effects of the HIV virus. [From Wikipedia: phytoestrogens
are plant-derived xenoestrogens functioning as the primary femalesex
hormone not generated within
the endocrine system but consumed by eating phytoestrogenic plants… so female
sex-hormones derived from plants rather than endogenously.] Landhing’s
particular interests lie in the cognitive piece of the puzzle, and her primary
mentor is Dr. Charlie Mactutus.
To
start more at her beginning, Landhing grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and told
me that her first name is Chinese. Interesting fact: Landhing’s mother is also
named “Landhing”, and Landhing’s father and brother also share the same first
name. “This is particularly problematic at doctor appointments,” said Landhing
with the matter-of-fact tone that you’d expect from a training scientist who
spends her days controlling, observing, and quantifying. Landhing said she
always liked science and enjoyed biology in high school. When she learned that
her undergraduate alma mater, the College of Notre Dame in Maryland, had a
biopsychology program, she majored in it and then began working for NIDA
(National Institute on Drug Abuse). She interviewed people about drug use as
part of a methadone treatment study; she ended up wanting to work with animals after
accepting that human confounds could not be well-enough controlled to meet the
needs of her substantive interests (e.g. humans can lie about drug use, lab animals
can’t).
Landhing
started the experimental psychology doctoral program at USC during the fall season
of 2007; she has been building a strong foundation for her research ever since,
which made her competitive in winning the CAS dissertation fellowship. So, what
does she do day-to-day now that she has this great award and the increased how-you-choose-to-spend-your-graduate-time
freedom that can come with it? Well, you might have guessed that she works
really really hard and is therefore on track to finish her dissertation work in
the spring of 2013, and will start applying for postdocs in the meantime .
Down in the basement for her dissertation work, she has 24 operant chambers
that she uses for experimentation with her sample of 84 rattusnorvegicus
subjects. [If you recently took
Learning and Motivation with Steven Harrod, this should be easier to
visualize.] She’s on her feet a lot and does nearly all of the work herself,
sometimes all day, 7 days a week for weeks on end. She sorts through the data
and listens to music while she waits for the animals to learn and react, with Band
of Horses being one of her staples over the last few months.In her free
time she also likes to draw, particularly drawing people; the last thing she
attempted was an anatomically accurate hand [Landhing let’s see it when you’re happy
with it!]. She is also a fan of http://whatshouldwecallgradschool.tumblr.com/… sincerest thanks for adding this to my life.
In terms of the Dissertation Fellowship logistics,
Landhing applied in April 2012 and was notified that she’d been chosen for the
award in May 2012. This is an amazingly quick turnaround by any standards. Students
within each department typically talk to their primary mentors and program
director or department chair about their desire to apply. There is no limit on
how many students can be nominated from a department or program, but
nominations are ranked if there is more than one. Students basically apply to
the department first, the department then ranks nominations, and those students’
applications are then forwarded to CAS. “It was less work than I thought it would
be,” said Landhing. She said it was only a few pages that needed to be
submitted. After winning the fellowship she quickly received a lump sum for the
year to fund her stipend. In terms of getting the award, “it’s important that
you show that you will be working on your dissertation during the period that
you’re going to be awarded,” she said. Within the past year, she’s also gotten
to travel to Honolulu and New Orleans for conferences. Those neuroscientists
sure know how to pick em’.
Landhing
is happy to talk to any students who are considering applying for the award- do
not hesitate to contact her at moranl[at]email[dot]sc[dot]edu.
[Interview and article compiled by Sandra Coulon]
