Faculty mentor Kota Takahashi will structure the activities to target the learning objectives outlined in the previous section. The goal of the mentoring activities is to expose the student in the scientific inquiry process to become an independent problem-solver. The mentor will meet bi-weekly with the students to allow students to ask questions and make meaningful connections of basic concepts pertinent to the research project. The student will also participate in weekly lab meetings and journal clubs, where students will learn to critically evaluate scientific articles relevant to the research topic. The student will present at the weekly lab meetings as data is being collected so that the student receives constructive feedback from the mentor and more senior graduate students or postdocs. The student will also perform several practice presentations in preparation for the final presentation at the OUR Summer Symposium. In the last 7 years, faculty mentor Dr. Takahashi has developed a strong track record of students receiving nationally competitive fellowships, such as the Barry Goldwater scholarship, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and National Institute of Health F31 predoctoral fellowship. Following completion of the research experience, the student will be encouraged to pursue their own scholarship and fellowship opportunities.