INBRE scholars: Aatiyah Ahmad

The Nebraska Institutional Development Award Program (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program has welcomed 27 undergraduate students from across Nebraska as they embark on their summer research experience at Creighton University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and UNMC.

Below, Aatiya Ahmad talks about her INBRE experience.

Who is Aatiya Ahmad?
I am a junior at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK). I am part of the honors program at UNK as well as the Health Science Club. I hope to graduate from UNK and then go on to graduate school to get my Ph.D.

Has science always been a part of your life?
Science has always been a part of my life. I grew up playing with test tubes, and I used to perform mock experiments during which I mixed water and mud together to see what “chemical reaction” would occur. This fascination with science has continued as I have grown older, and my curiosity has only increased.

How is it important to you?
Science is an integral part of my life. There are so many different fields to choose from, and there are almost no limits to the types of research that are available. Despite the advances that we have made in science, there is still so much that remains to be discovered. I want to be part of this advancement and contribute to discoveries that make an impact on people’s lives.

Why did you choose to participate in the INBRE program?
I chose to participate in the INBRE program because I believed that it was an amazing opportunity for me to foster my interest in research and be part of a problem-solving community.

What do you hope to gain from the program?
I hope to gain research experience that will help me later on when I go to graduate school and get a Ph.D. Besides just that, I think that the research I will be doing has a very important impact on the community. I will be working with pathogenic bacteria, which are amazingly complex creatures, and it is fascinating to be able to conduct experiments to figure out exactly why they cause the diseases they do.

About the INBRE program

The INBRE program is overseen by James Turpen, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and a professor in UNMC's Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy, and principal investigator of the $16.2 million National Institutes of Health grant that supports the program.

Established in 2001, the INBRE program was created to expose students to serious biomedical research, build a statewide biomedical research infrastructure between undergraduate and graduate institutions, strengthen the infrastructure of undergraduate institutions, and increase their capacity to conduct cutting-edge biomedical and behavioral research.

This year's 27 INBRE Scholars represent:

Nine colleges and universities;

four states, including Iowa, Minnesota, California and Colorado;

three foreign countries, including India, Japan and Vietnam;

16 women; and

11 men.

The students, referred to as INBRE Scholars, enter the program after completing their sophomore year of college upon recommendation by their college professors. The students are given a two-year scholarship and spend 10 weeks each summer conducting research on either their home campus or at UNMC, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln or Creighton University.

At the end of the summer the students attend the INBRE annual meeting where they give an oral presentation.

INBRE scholars: Aatiyah Ahmad

About the INBRE program

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