{"id":82094,"date":"2020-02-10T13:58:08","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T18:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=82094"},"modified":"2020-04-20T12:33:41","modified_gmt":"2020-04-20T16:33:41","slug":"no-doubt-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2020\/02\/10\/no-doubt-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"No doubt about it"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Tara-Yesomi Wenegieme, a biological sciences major at Wright State, wants to become a doctor and conduct research, possibly in pathology. (Photos by Erin Pence)<\/p><\/div>\n

Learning how to conduct scientific research in a college lab is an acquired skill. Wright State University biology student<\/a> Tara-Yesomi Wenegieme acquired it in a hurry.<\/p>\n

Wenegieme began working in the lab of renal physiologist Clintoria Williams less than a year ago with no prior experience.<\/p>\n

Last September, Wenegieme won a scientific poster presentation award for her research work at the annual Ohio Physiological Society conference, a statewide competition that pitted her against students with far more training.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is able to generate data, understand a project and compete on a level with graduate students and postdocs who have had years of research experience,\u201d said Williams, an assistant professor in the Boonshoft School of Medicine<\/a> and the College of Science and Mathematics<\/a> as well as director of the Small Animal Physiology (SAP) Core.<\/p>\n

Wenegieme is part of a Williams-led team of researchers who have helped linked zinc deficiency to high blood pressure<\/a>. High blood pressure, or hypertension, can increase the risk of serious health problems, including heart attack and stroke. Zinc, a trace element highly concentrated in the pancreas, helps the immune system fight off invading bacteria and viruses.<\/p>\n

Wenegieme\u2019s poster presentation reflected those research findings.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me it\u2019s very important because as an African American hypertension is more prevalent,\u201d said Wenegieme. \u201cI think it\u2019s really important to investigate and see how we can make a change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wenegieme worked hard in the lab \u2014 putting in long hours that would sometimes stretch to 10 p.m. \u2014 in order to make sure she was getting her data right.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, I struggled a lot with self-doubt,\u201d she said. \u201cTo me it shows that if you put your mind to whatever you do you can be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in New York City, Wenegieme later spent five years in Nigeria, her mother\u2019s native country. At age 10, Wenegieme and her family returned to the United States and settled in Ohio. Her mother works as a nurse in a Dayton-area nursing home.<\/p>\n

From seventh through 12th grades, Wenegieme participated in Wright STEPP. The program was designed to increase the number of students from public schools in Dayton and Springfield who graduate from high school with the academic skills to earn their bachelor\u2019s degrees in science, technology, engineering or math.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gave me an insight into what Wright State would look like and I got interested in it,\u201d Wenegieme said. \u201cIt made me really want to pursue Wright State.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Tara-Yesomi Wenegieme works in the lab of renal physiologist Clintoria Williams and helped linked zinc deficiency to high blood pressure.<\/p><\/div>\n

Wenegieme became interested in biology during her junior year at Meadowdale High School and was especially intrigued with DNA.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen I looked at what majors are best suited for becoming a medical doctor, and biology was one of them,\u201d she said. \u201cSo it made me want to pursue it even more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wenegieme enrolled at Wright State after graduating from Meadowdale in 2016 to pursue biology. But she got off to a slow start.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I took my first bio class I didn\u2019t do really well on my first exam as well as in the lab,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Wenegieme sought help from tutors and got involved in the Applying Scientific Knowledge (ASK) program in the College of Science and Mathematics. Under the ASK model, undergraduate students take a research methods course and then conduct research in teams.<\/p>\n

Wenegieme was off and running.<\/p>\n

\u201cWright State opened my eyes as to what I want to do and accomplish in this life,\u201d she said. \u201cMy goal is to become a doctor, but working in the lab has made me realize I also really want to do something lab-based, possibly in pathology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams said Wenegieme\u2019s success in the poster competition at the Ohio Physiological Society conference has built up her confidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo now she sees her potential,\u201d said Williams. \u201cI think she understands that everything she needs to be successful is already in her.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tara-Yesomi Wenegieme, a biological sciences major at Wright State, wants to become a doctor and conduct research, possibly in pathology. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":82118,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,2064,715,18,746,4298],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-biology","category-news","category-research","category-science-mathematics","category-student-profile"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82094"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82142,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82094\/revisions\/82142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}