Name: Hailey Sanders
Department: Biochemistry PhD
Year: 2nd year
Where is home for you?
Colorado
Hailey’s Fast Five!
- While working do you listen to music/podcasts or need complete silence? Listen to Music/Podcasts
- Do you like to read traditional books or e-books? Traditional Books
- Would you rather have a dog or a cat? A Cat
- When you drink coffee, would you rather it be hot or iced? Iced
- On a nice weekend, would you rather hike or swim? Hike
What are your favorite things to do in the South Bend area?
I like to go to the local restaurants to try new foods. It is also a good place to see friends.
Outside of your department, where do you spend the most time on campus?
I spend most of my time walking around campus, especially by the Dome and the lakes. In the fall, I like to sit outside and look at the brightly colored leaves.
What led you to do the research you do? What continues to motivate your research?
As a kid, I grew up with a growth hormone deficiency known as Idiopathic Short Stature. It meant I was not growing at an average rate and that they could not identify why I wasn’t producing growth hormone efficiently. Upon receiving this diagnosis, I underwent rigorous testing which led to me needing daily growth hormone injections to help supplement what I was not born with. Time passed and I was able to stop treatment. I never grasped how it even worked. That was until High School where I was introduced to biochemistry. Here I learned how scientists were able to purify proteins and hormones and how this was used in modern medicine. The work of previous researchers had effectively bettered my life without me even realizing it. Realizing this, I wanted to become that scientist who could improve the tools used in disease diagnostics and therapies. Today, I spend my time in the lab working on a project to help with improving disease diagnosis and am driven by this passion.