Meredith Reid began her academic career at UAB as an undergraduate student. After receiving her BS in biomedical engineering and a BA in Spanish, Meredith decided to pursue and MS in biomedical engineering.
Meredith works with Dr. Adrienne Lahti and Dr. Shastry Akella. Her research encompasses the use of functional MRI and MR spectroscopy to study patients with schizophrenia. She explains, “Functional MRI is used to map areas of activation in the brain, and MR spectroscopy allows us to study the chemical environment in a particular brain region and identify specific compounds. Using these imaging modalities, we will quantify changes in brain activation and concentration of these compounds to assess the effects of drug therapy for schizophrenic patients.”
UAB’s well-known reputation for biomedical research is the reason why Meredith chose to join the graduate program. As an undergraduate student at UAB, she became familiar with the research of Dr. Shastry Akella and Dr. Don Twieg. “I was especially attracted to the opportunities to collaborate with other researchers across campus and to see the impact of my research in the clinical setting.”
Meredith’s academic accomplishments are evident in the awards and honors she has received. Among them are UAB Engineering Scholar, Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society, and she was the 2007 Outstanding Student in Spanish, graduating Summa Cum Laude.
She believes her most rewarding experience so far at UAB has been to be able to work with people from a variety of academic disciplines as well as from diverse backgrounds. Her greatest influence has been Dr. Akella, adding, “He truly cares about his students and is always encouraging and supportive. His depth of knowledge is admirable, and I have already learned so much from him in the short time that I have worked with him.”
Meredith is motivated by the opportunity to use her skills and abilities to contribute to the improvement of healthcare while also being involved in research that interests her. She encourages other graduate students to work hard, enjoy your program of choice, and never give up.
Because Meredith has not yet decided if she will continue her education by pursuing a PhD or seek employment after obtaining her master’s degree, her future is wide open. We wish her good luck in all her endeavors.
To view a video of Meredith and other BME students talking about their research, visit this link, http://main.uab.edu/Sites/gradschool/students/publications/33840/.