Cierra N. Sharp, Scientist in the Making

My greatest pleasure as a kid was rushing home after school to watch Bill Nye the Science Guy. I would watch the show intently and tried to absorb all the information Bill had to share with me. In school, this love for Bill Nye translated to an intense love of science class and a desire to check out every science related book from the library. Whether it was plant biology, space, or physics I wanted to know as much as I could about the subject. The more information I retained, the more I began asking questions about why things were the way they were and how they got to be that way- Why were there nine planets? How long would it take someone to get to Mars? Why do we use oxygen to breathe rather than CO2? and so on and so forth. This inquisitive nature only grew as I got older. During middle school, I knew I wanted to be a scientist. During high school, I discovered my passion for biology, and went on to pursue a degree in Biology during my undergraduate career at Transylvania University. During my time there, I was inspired by my professors, and I aspired to be like them. That is why I decided to pursue a PhD upon graduation. After taking a year to discover what field of research I wanted to pursue my PhD in, I decided on Pharmacology/Toxicology. There were several reasons for why I chose this route. For one, I was very interested in doing cancer therapeutic research. Secondly, I had experience working with mice, and wanted this to be a part of my project. Finally, I wanted to do research that was very translational, and I felt that drug development/design was the best route for this. Since deciding on a PhD in Pharmacology/Toxicology, I have found a project that is animal-based, is very translational, and allows me the opportunity to find novel targets to ameliorate or prevent renal fibrosis sustained from CKD caused by cisplatin treatment. I am very passionate about my project and spend most of my time trying to find new ways to broaden the scope of my project. I fully believe that my project has the makings to change the way we do kidney research, and that with this project we will find a therapeutic target that will lead to the development of a renoprotective agent for cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.