Kailyn Butler, undergraduate neurobiology researcher, will represent LBC on MSU's Homecoming Court 2024
July 25, 2024 - Tiffany Werner
Kailyn Butler is a fourth-year student from Highland, Indiana, pursuing a double major in neuroscience and human biology, with a minor in bioethics. She will be one of the first-ever African American women to represent Lyman Briggs College on the Homecoming Court, this fall.
Butler chose Michigan State University and LBC because she wanted to attend a Big Ten school, but being from a small town, found comfort in the tight-knit, live-in community offered at LBC. She was also particularly interested in the abundance of undergraduate research opportunities provided at LBC, which have become an important part of her college career.
Butler became involved in research during her second-year Brain and Behavior course with Dr. Alexander Johnson, whose teaching style and work she found compelling. She has since worked with him in the Johnson Lab: Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, where her specific research focuses on how certain brain cells send messages to control insulin release during the early stages of eating, through a process called cephalic phase insulin release (CPIR). She wants to understand how these brain circuits from the Lateral Hypothalamic Area to the Dorsal Motor Nucleus of the Vagus affect blood sugar levels and how they could be targeted for treating conditions like diabetes.
Outside of research, some of Butler’s key experiences at LBC include being a clerical assistant for the Student Success and Advising team, being heavily involved with Briggs Ambassadors for the past three years, and being their Executive Coordinator this upcoming school year. As a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated., Butler served as president of the National Panhellenic Council. All of these groups have helped her grow personally and professionally and challenged her in unique ways. In her free time, she enjoys attending MSU sporting events with her friends, cooking, and playing video games.
While Butler is excited to connect with MSU alumni and share her love for MSU and LBC, being on Homecoming Court this fall means even more than than that to her: “What excites me the most is being able to be a role model for other young girls who look like me in STEM,” says Butler. “As an African American woman studying STEM in Lyman Briggs College, I've faced the ongoing struggle of finding like-minded individuals who look like me, succeed. As an incoming freshman from out of state, I yearned for a role model who shared my aspirations and background. Realizing the difficulty of finding such representation, especially in Lyman Briggs where it is a small, predominantly white college, I chose not to give up but rather to become the role model I wished I had.”
In the future, Butler plans to pursue a MD/PhD or a MD/MPH dual degree to follow her passion for racial inequality in healthcare and how it affects children. “The representation of marginalized populations in predominantly white spaces is crucial for demonstrating that certain opportunities are not out of reach. From sharing my experiences as a Black woman at Michigan State with prospective students and parents as a Briggs Ambassador, to excelling as an undergraduate researcher presenting at national conferences, I have created the role model that I wish I had as a freshman.”
Congratulations, Kailyn!