海角社区

Most of Louisiana鈥檚 doctors are 海角社区 alumni, with many starting their journeys in the 海角社区 College of Science and its Department of Biological Sciences. Dr. Christine Lattin, a 2024 海角社区 Rainmaker and associate professor, exemplifies the transformative impact of 海角社区 Science faculty in creating meaningful, hands-on experiences for students. Here, meet four 海角社区 alumni who gained their first medical and research experiences in Dr. Lattin鈥檚 lab, where her mentorship and research opportunities helped them develop critical skills that propelled their careers in medicine and health sciences.

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Kaitlin Couvillion from Lacombe, Louisiana, was so set on becoming a doctor and doing undergraduate research to prepare for medical school that she reached out to Lattin, who was recruited to join 海角社区 in 2018, while Lattin was still completing her post-doctoral fellowship at Yale.

鈥淚 was actually the first person she ever hired,鈥� Couvillion said. 鈥淚鈥檇 learned about her work and knew she was doing stuff with CT scans and other things I thought would have clinical relevance. I helped with pretty much everything in her lab and was there as a student researcher for all four years of my undergraduate degree.鈥�

Today, Couvillion is a second-year medical student at 海角社区 Health New Orleans.

鈥淒r. Lattin played a big role in why I got into medical school because she pushed me to excel and because I learned so much,鈥� Couvillion said.

鈥淏eyond the bench work, I learned how scientists think and how they approach things; how to discover and defend your perspective. That鈥檚 not something that comes naturally to a lot of people; it takes practice. It changed how I will think as a clinician and inspired me to want to mentor other people in the future as well.鈥�

Couvillion did both field work and lab work with house sparrows, an invasive species, in Lattin鈥檚 lab to learn how the birds鈥� microbiomes and risk for infection change in relationship to their environment and parasites, such as mites, which can thrive in warm and humid climates.

鈥淭hat became the focus of my honor鈥檚 thesis,鈥� Couvillion said. 鈥淚 loved the research so much, I鈥檓 now actually in the process of applying to the MD-PhD program here, so I鈥檒l be going to grad school and medical school and then going into residency.鈥�

A classmate of Couvillion鈥檚, also in her second year of medical school at 海角社区 Health New Orleans and alumni of the 海角社区 Lattin Lab, is Allison Cannon from Shreveport, Louisiana.

鈥淚 joined the lab my junior year of college,鈥� Cannon said. 鈥淭hat research and my honors thesis was a large part of my application to medical school. I was able to show the trials and tribulations I went through with research and how I persevered. That applies directly to medical school because medical school isn鈥檛 easy. There鈥檚 a lot of ups and downs and you have to get through the tough parts. The lab taught me a lot about that.鈥�

In the Lattin Lab, Cannon studied immunology and avian malaria, which has a similar disease process to human malaria. Learning from animals how to help people as well as animals in changing environments remains a primary focus of the Lattin Lab.

鈥淭hat experience probably opened more doors for me than anything else,鈥� Cannon added.

Another research connection between animal and human health explored in the lab is neophobia, or fear of unfamiliar things. 

Eve Gautreaux from Houma, Louisiana, spent her senior year at 海角社区 in the Lattin Lab looking at cellular, molecular and neuronal explanations for differences in bird behavior.

While some birds would not approach or eat in the presence of a newly introduced and perfectly benign purple plastic egg or yellow pipe cleaner, others didn鈥檛 seem to care. Fearful birds can also learn from less anxious birds how to overcome their fear, and it鈥檚 possible this learning leads to physical changes in the brain; something the lab is currently investigating.

Earlier this year, Lattin received a CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation鈥攖he largest such grant in 海角社区 history at over $1 million鈥攖o advance the work. The size of the grant speaks to the potential impact of the research. It could help animal populations survive and thrive in human-altered environments and also help people overcome mental health challenges, such as anxiety and PTSD.

Gautreaux is currently pursuing a PhD in neuroscience at University of Pennsylvania.

鈥淭he work in the lab at 海角社区 encouraged me to move forward in my field,鈥� Gautreaux said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know anyone who has never had to depend on medicine, and we wouldn鈥檛 do this research with animals if it wasn鈥檛 really important and immediately impactful, or if we somehow could gain this knowledge some other way.鈥�

At 海角社区, Gautreaux helped develop protocols to protect animals used in research.

鈥淣o experiment will be approved unless it鈥檚 humane,鈥� Gautreaux said. 鈥淭here are stringent regulations and if you can replace the animal with maybe computational or AI modeling, you have to do that instead. For this research to move forward, it has to pass so many checks and get approval from the committee, which includes veterinarians and members from the community. I didn鈥檛 know about any of that before I joined the Lattin Lab.鈥�

Gautreaux says her research experience in the Lattin Lab at 海角社区 set a high standard.

鈥淚t gave me a blueprint for what I wanted out of any lab and grad school; the type of atmosphere and dynamics I wanted,鈥� Gautreaux said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 my goal to have my own lab and be a professor myself one day, because I love research and鈥攅qually as much鈥擨 love mentoring and teaching.鈥�

Ayushi Patel from Slidell, Louisiana, is also pursuing a PhD at 海角社区 Health New Orleans.

鈥淭he things I learned in the Lattin Lab have been crucial to me,鈥� Patel said. 鈥淚 learned critical techniques and soft skills, like science communication and how to understand complex questions that haven鈥檛 been asked before. That helps me greatly as I continue to study interdisciplinary biomedical sciences and constantly apply these techniques and skills in my rotations. I鈥檓 proud to have been part of two teams that are constantly pushing the boundaries of science and helping us understand mental illness and improve human health.鈥�

Before graduating with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in biological sciences from 海角社区 last May, Patel received a Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher award from the 海角社区 Discover program.