Professor Austin is honestly one of the best professors to have for a class. She is great at teaching and truly cares about her students. The grading is very fair as well. The class itself is interesting, and isn't very hard. If you put the work in to study for the quizzes, midterm, and final, you will do great. Professor Austin also gives a lot of extra credit that help your final grade out a lot. I highly recommend to take MCDB50 with Professor Austin; it is simply great.

Dr. Austin is a fantastic professor, and I am so happy that I could be in her class. Homework assignments are very reasonable and if you pay attention to what is being asked, you can get the whole credit. There is a presentation involved that I liked it. Final and midterm are based on lectures and doable. In general, her classes are the best and you will learn a lot without experiencing stress. Thank you Dr. Austin for your wonderful classes; you are the best!

I loved taking this class with Professor Austin! Aside from the course material, there was a presentation that we had to do over Zoom, which was a great break from the course. Dr. Austin was very approachable, and she was very knowledgeable about the course material. She was also very understanding throughout the quarter and offered to drop our lowest midterm for us. Certainly not a walk in the park, but very fair class with a lot of opportunities for extra credit. Dr. Austin clearly cares about her students. Would highly recommend anyone to take this course with her. The TAs were fantastic as well, and they explained all of the material really well.

Professor Austin is a superstar. Most of this class is about showing up and understanding lectures, and for sure understanding discussion. I had Evgeniy for a TA and he was incredible, very clear and each discussion he fully explained through each figure of the paper. You have to ask questions in discussion to really get a good understanding. Tina Austin's lectures are good, she uses her slides and verbal explanations a lot. Austin loves feedback forms, and this is the attendance every class and discussion. For my quarter, half of the classes were online. Attendance is important. Participation is important, she asks a lot of questions during lecture and she appreciates you answering even if your wrong. The homeworks are based around discussion and lecture, so take good notes. The midterms were challenging, I got an A on the first one and didn't get a grade back on the second one (TA strike) but it was bad. I studied around two days before each midterm. The final was multiple choice because of the strike too, but Austin was super gentle with how in depth the cumulative questions are. Overall a great, enthralling, and very informational class. Don't miss out on taking Tina Austin if you can help it, she's the greatest.

This course was informative, organized, engaging, and interesting! I love that Professor Austin updates her slides to current research and any new findings. Also, participation is very important for this course. I highly HIGHLY recommend going to office hours if you can. Professor Austin is very open to meeting new students and is helpful with any questions you might have. Another tip for exams is to go over the slides. There are things that are emphasized in lecture that you will want to take note of, as they will probably be on the exam. Make sure to allot a proper amount of time for studying by looking through the slides, discussion recordings, and info that was gone over during office hours.
Overall, I learned so much more about stem cells, and participating in class only helped me learn more. Professor Austin truly cares about student learning, so be vocal in class (when appropriate) for answering questions or taking part in discussions.
Another note: this class requires a short individual presentation via zoom. Be creative and add some personal elements to yours! These presentations, while they may seem a little intimidating, become a great way to get to know your peers and relevant topics more.
Definitely a course that I think everyone should take if they get the chance!

Professor Austin was the best professor I have had at UCLA so far. She is extremely approachable and structures the class in an engaging manner that helps dumb down the complex material. Definitely would recommend this class with Professor Austin if you're MCDB or MIMG and need to take 165A for a core class.

You're going to hear this several times but this class is extremely bottom heavy (assignments worth the most are all due within the last 2-3 weeks, close to finals). While I would say Dr. Austin is an approachable and engaging lecturer, she didn't really give us the resources to work ahead so you had to work on these assignments while balancing studying for finals. Throughout the quarter, she would also sometimes post assignments a day or two before they were due. I felt that in general, she did not respect our time as students. However, she is understanding and takes student feedback into consideration. She also is a good lecturer and explains concepts clearly while engaging the class by asking questions (you are expected to participate). She has a policy allowing students to miss up to 15% of class, though I wouldn't recommend it because lectures are not recorded and you won't be able to get the information again. Overall, if I had to take this class again I would be extremely proactive about my assignments and getting information on what to do for them, especially for the end of quarter assignments which are graded on an extensive rubric while other assignments are usually participation based.

Overall, I have to admit, this class was not easy for me. The workloads were heavy and I spent a lot more time on this class than any other classes. Before getting into this class, I read all the comments about this class, and for some parts, I do agree. This class won't be exactly the class with clear due dates for the assignments or exams and oftentimes, there will be some confusion. However, I would also like to emphasize that this class is completely doable. You don't need to be scared or be intimidated. All you need to learn is how to allocate your time well. I know it's stressful and it was stressful for me too, but really talk to your professor, so that she could understand your hardships too. Dr. Austin is an understanding person and she truly cares about your learning. Some of the comments were saying how she has her favorites, but I honestly think that's because those people try hard to interact with her more during class time or during her office hours. Whenever you face difficulties, talk to her and ask her for advice. She'll try her best to accommodate. My final note is to put in your effort, try your best, and let Dr. Austin know you are trying then you will succeed in this class.

Dr. Austin is an engaging lecturer who really demonstrates a deeply rooted passion for teaching biomedical research. I personally had little to no prior research experience before taking this class and, after learning various concepts through her lectures, I felt a lot more prepared to pursue long-term research in a wet lab for my Minor. The class has quizzes, but they are fairly straightforward so long as you paid attention in class. You also learn to write proposals and give a presentation on a topic of interest that expands on concepts discussed in class, which were all great learning experiences. Overall, I would highly recommend taking this class with Dr. Austin if you plan to pursue the Biomedical Research Minor.

I thoroughly enjoyed this class especially because I learned a lot about the material and because I appreciated Professor Austin and all her generous help. This class provided a great environment to learn and discuss research. With COVID, the lab classes where you learn a lot of basic lab techniques were online so when it came to laboratory techniques and research, I still found everything very new. This class taught me a lot about various lab techniques and made me grow more comfortable in my own understanding so that I could apply my learning to my own research lab and projects.

The class is formatted where we had presentations given by UCLA faculty who would present one of their own research projects and then for the next few weeks, we would spend our time reading and dissecting their work. A few weeks later, the researcher would return to our class and answer our questions. It was satisfying to engage in discussion and see how much we have learned over the last few weeks. Throughout the quarter, there were also a variety of assignments, including a proposal and a final presentation. I enjoyed having the opportunity to design my proposal and give a research presentation. I further enjoyed having the opportunity to listen to my peers and listen to their creative ideas and perspectives when it came to research.

This class made me feel more confident in my abilities to present and discuss research. The set up of the class is focused on participation and allowed for everyone to actively contribute their thoughts or ask insightful questions. As such, it created a great environment to discuss research and learn from Professor Austin, other UCLA faculty, and my peers and hear their unique perspective on subjects.

Through projects in this class, such as the proposal and final presentation, I was able to grow in my abilities to present research. I especially learned a lot because of the valuable feedback from Professor Austin. She would have us submit our presentations prior to our presentation date to provide us feedback and ensure we felt prepared. She worked with me countless times, even taking the time to meet with me outside of office hours or class. In office hour, it was incredibly helpful to meet with her and ask further questions about the class material or assignments. I also found it enjoyable to attend office hours to chat about her research experiences as well or other research in the field. Professor Austin truly cares from her students and will invest her time in them in order to help them grow as students. I truly believe this class has taught me so much and helped me grow as researcher, especially because of Professor Austin.

Overall, I loved this class because I felt like I was able to demonstrate tangible progress I made through class discussions or presentations. or even being able to directly apply the class material to my own research. I especially appreciate all the time Professor Austin took to meet with me and provide me with her feedback to help me grow. I highly recommend this class to any student interested in pursuing research or just learning about the research field. I also would highly recommend taking this class with Professor Austin given her dedication to her students.