During the summer of 2017, I participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program through Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Thankfully, I was able to continue my research in the Lewkowich Lab studying the role of airway epithelial cells in the allergic asthma immune response. I learned a lot in these 10 weeks, both in science/research techniques and content concerning the social environment of academia. Even though I worked on my project by myself, I spent the summer with two other undergraduate students in the lab, which was enlightening and fun. Both students were from other universities, Ohio State University and California State University at Northridge. It was interesting to be able to compare our undergraduate and research experiences at different universities from across the country as well as different cultures and backgrounds. One of the graduate students in my lab defended her thesis and graduated with her PhD, which was exciting. It was interesting to learn about the process of defending, writing, and graduating from a graduate program in science. The politics of committees are fascinating, and I find it intriguing how many people stay in academia versus go to work for industry or other jobs entirely. Our graduate student went to work for a consulting company to use her science background to work with science companies. In terms of science, I learned more about the protein aspect of my project. Previously, I had been examining the RNA made by the mouse tracheal epithelial cells. RNA can eventually be translated into protein, and these protein products could be secreted by the cell to elicit different effects, like recruiting neutrophils to the site and promoting airway hyperresponsiveness. Previous data has shown that IL-17A may be causing an exacerbated increase in the phosphorylation of STAT6, an IL-13-mediated transcription factor. Thus, this summer, I performed many Western Blots to compare Total STAT6 to phosphorylated STAT6 after stimulating mouse tracheal epithelial cells with media, IL-13, IL-17A, or IL-13 and IL-17A. I presented my research at the end of the summer in the Student Poster Symposium. This fall, I am continuing to work in the Lewkowich Lab as a student employee, and I hope to progress this project even further towards publication.