Richie Sapp arrived to Stanford as an undergraduate already interested in studying neuroscience. After talking with several faculty members, he ended up working in the lab of Carla Shatz, PhD, director of Stanford Bio-X.
I interviewed Sapp recently for a series of stories I was working on about undergraduate research opportunities at Stanford. He had participated in a terrific summer program run by Bio-X. I was struck by a few things when we talked, one of which was Sapp's sincere interest in helping people. He had grown up with a twin brother who had been born with hydrocephaly and as a result had learning delays and is on the autism spectrum. That experience shaped his interest in helping people with similar challenges.
Sapp said that through his experience in the lab he got more out of his undergraduate classes and learned a lot about where he wants to go with his life. He loves the research and discovery, but also wants to go the medical school before pursuing research. Without the experience provided by the Bio-X summer program he might not have known which direction to go.
"The experience of designing experiments and seeing a project through to the end is going to be important for me in whatever I do next," he said.
Here is the full profile about Sapp, with more about his research experiences.
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