INBRE scholars: Keegan McGill

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, Keegan McGill, a chemistry major at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, talks about his INBRE experience.

Tell me about yourself. Who are your heroes?
I enjoy being outside and playing video games, two completely opposite things, but that’s how I grew up. I also play on the drumline in marching band, as well as a member of the fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta at Kearney.

What are your career goals?
I want to be a chemistry professor and continue doing research.

How did you become interested in science?
My high school chemistry teachers were all amazing. I enjoyed the classes and learning about science, so I stuck with it into college.

What do you hope the INBRE program will do for you?
I hope to discover more of my interests as well as gain more experience in research.

How do you see science evolving over the next 20 years?
Scientists will still be searching for answers. That is the beautiful thing about science — there will always be questions to solve, so it is never ending. There will be new tools and new ideas, yes, but it will still be searching.

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: Keegan McGill

About the INBRE program

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