糖心Vlog

Like many essential healthcare workers, Taylor Keyes, 鈥�19, has seen a shift in her job responsibilities ever since COVID-19 hit in March 2020.

As a research technician for a lab at Duke Health, her duties prior to the pandemic centered around studying patient trial antibody responses to HIV/AIDS vaccinations. But with the novel coronavirus now at the forefront of healthcare research, Keyes has a new responsibility: to study COVID-19 samples in support of the search for a vaccine.

Since her lab had experience evaluating antibody responses for HIV, Keyes and her colleagues were able to apply that same expertise in evaluating antibody responses in COVID-19 samples. Duke also gave her the unique opportunity to receive additional training in the biocontainment facility so that she could do hands-on experiments with the actual SARS-CoV-2 virus.

鈥淚n a week鈥檚 time, I can infect cells with the virus, harvest the cells, and perform experiments to determine whether various antibodies are capable of binding to the infected cells,鈥� said Keyes. 鈥淚 can also look at serum from COVID-19 patients and assess how 鈥榠nfected鈥� they are.鈥�

As the virus continues to result in devastation across the world, Keyes finds being a part of the solution to be very rewarding. 鈥淭he thing I love the most about working in vaccine development is knowing that what I鈥檓 doing is working towards creating a better future,鈥� she said.

鈥淩esearch involves a lot of long days and headaches, but it is so rewarding. If given the choice, I would choose it every single time.鈥� Keyes relies on her strengths in being extremely organized, attentive to detail, and inquisitive to succeed in her role. 鈥淚 think these strengths serve me well as a scientist because in the lab, organization and time management are the keys to getting the job done,鈥� she said. 鈥淗aving great attention to detail is key to making discoveries.鈥�

During Keyes鈥� time on Meredith鈥檚 campus, she took advantage of the opportunity to conduct undergraduate research investigating HIV treatment possibilities, which is what initially sparked her passion for HIV research, immunology, and public health.

鈥淢eredith鈥檚 support for and celebration of student researchers gave me the confidence to pursue research as a career,鈥� she said. 鈥淩eceiving funding for my research project from the Undergraduate Research Program gave me the chance to fine-tune my scientific skills and helped me become an employable scientist.鈥�

Considering Keyes just recently graduated, the experience she鈥檚 gained in vaccine development so far is remarkable. 鈥淚 am most proud of how much I鈥檝e grown as a scientist in the short time I鈥檝e been with Duke,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檝e learned so much already and have no intentions on stopping.鈥�