The Origins of a Student Neuroscientist
From the chem lab to a national conference, Sofia Del Fiol ’26 is learning what it means to share her research with the world
By Patrick Mulikuza ’28
Photography by Patrick Record
Impactful experiences in neuroscience. During her time at Whitman, soon-to-be graduate Sofia Del Fiol’s research internships in Utah and Ireland provided valuable hands-on experience that prepared her to step onto a national stage.
On a rainy November day at the San Diego Convention Center in California, Whitman College senior Sofia Del Fiol stepped up to the podium of Neuroscience 2025, the annual conference of the Society for Neuroscience.
In the audience were experienced researchers, industry professionals, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students—all listening to Del Fiol as she shared the results of her research on the use of cannabidiol to reduce epilepsy symptoms. On a speaker roster crowded with postdoc fellows and graduate students, Del Fiol stood out as the rare undergraduate.
Delving Inside the Mind
Del Fiol’s journey in neuroscience started when she took her first Chemistry class at Whitman. Despite her initial interest in pursuing a Psychology major, the language of atoms and molecules ignited her fascination. So she declared a major in Brain, Behavior and Cognition to blend her interest in the behavioral sciences with the chemical processes that drive them.
“Something I really like about Whitman is that students have the opportunity to grow into their interests,” she says. “You have to take art classes, philosophy classes and classes you’re not used to … That really helped me because neuroscience is so interdisciplinary.”
Putting in the Lab Work—Near & Far
In her sophomore year, fueled by her interest in neuroscience research, Del Fiol reached out to several labs across the country and secured a research internship at the University of Utah. There she worked alongside pharmacology and toxicology professor Ana Beatriz DePaula-Silva on treatments for epilepsy and multiple sclerosis.
By the end of the summer, she’d collected enough data to present both at the University of Utah’s Undergraduate Summer Conference and the annual conference of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). She created a SACNAS chapter at Whitman when she returned the following fall.
In the spring of her junior year, Del Fiol studied abroad in Ireland, where she had the opportunity to further her hands-on research experience. At University College Dublin, she worked alongside a postdoc fellow on liver cancer research.
“I had a lot of fun working abroad and getting that experience,” she recalls. “It was a very multidisciplinary and international lab, with people from all over the world working there.”
“Being able to present at a national level … really helped me improve those skills of communicating science, which is something that I’m really passionate about.
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—Sofia Del Fiol ’26
When Del Fiol returned to DePaula-Silva’s Utah lab the following summer, she took on even more responsibility in the lab, including data analysis and developing research questions and experiments.
The study focused on cannabidiol—commonly known as CBD—and its mechanisms for reducing epilepsy severity. “I was really interested in CBD specifically because CBD and other cannabinoids are linked to neurological disorders,” Del Fiol explains. “They’re seeing that these compounds can decrease many symptoms for people with conditions like epilepsy, Parkinson’s and maybe Alzheimer’s.”
By the end of the internship, Del Fiol had co-authored research that would be shared with the Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program, a premier center for epilepsy treatment research, and the Center for Medical Cannabis Research.
Taking the Stage
Del Fiol had learned about the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) conference from two of her Whitman professors: Christopher Wallace and Ginger Withers, both Dr. Robert F. Welty Professors of Biology. Withers also co-directs the Brain, Behavior and Cognition program.
The SfN is widely considered the premier professional organization for neuroscience research globally, and Del Fiol knew that undergraduates rarely take the stage there. But with her professors’ encouragement, she submitted her abstract for consideration.
When the acceptance email arrived, Del Fiol could hardly believe it. Her abstract had been selected for a nanosymposium, a short presentation followed by a Q&A with the audience.
“It was definitely a little bit intimidating at first,” she admits. “I practiced a lot thanks to Professor Withers.”
On the big day, she was able to answer the audience’s questions with confidence. “One thing that people always tell you is that you know your research better than anyone in the crowd. I just remembered that,” she says.
The experience was a pivotal step toward Del Fiol’s career goal of pursuing a doctorate in neuroscience.
“Being able to present at a national level in front of such an audience really helped me improve those skills of communicating science, which is something that I’m really passionate about.
Growing as a Scientist & Scholar at Whitman
Looking back at her Whitman College journey, Sofia Del Fiol ’26 appreciates how unknowns, experimentation and collaboration were part of her academic and personal growth.
“When I was starting at Whitman, I was a very curious person, but I wasn’t very confident about the curiosity and about asking those questions. I was a little more hesitant to step outside my comfort zone,” she says.
“Over time … I’ve learned to trust myself and my curiosity and be willing to ask those questions.”
And she hasn’t gotten there alone. Whitman’s collaborative culture taught her that science is not a solitary enterprise. In late-night study groups, long lab sessions and office hours with professors, Del Fiol says she’s learned how to think like a scientist, ask questions, admit when she doesn’t know something and work with others toward finding solutions.
Read more about student-faculty research at Whitman.
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