On May 28, the Nebraska Institutional Development Award Program (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) program welcomed 29 undergraduate students from across Nebraska as they embark on their summer research experience at Creighton University, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and UNMC.
Below Evie Ehrhorn, a molecular and biomedical biology major at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, talks about her INBRE experience.
Tell me about yourself. Who are your heroes?
I consider myself an extroverted introvert. I love spending time with my friends and being out and about, however, my favorite place to be is just at home spending quality time with my family. I am an avid runner who likes to play the occasional game of tennis and kick around a soccer ball. I also am a huge animal lover, except I definitely will never be able to get over my fear of snakes. My heroes would be my siblings. My older sister is a hero in my eyes because she has paved the way for me since I was born. Greta has been able to show me how hard work and consistency pays off over time, even when there are adversities along the path. My twin brother, Abram, never ceases to amaze me. He has been able to show me how you can be successful through determination, yet be humble about your success.
What are your career goals?
One career goal is to complete my Ph.D. Following that, I would like to further my research and work for the government in their infectious disease department and hopefully be able to work to wipe out mass infections across the country.
How did you become interested in science?
My interest in science probably began with my mom’s work. My mom is a homebound teacher that educates students who are too ill to go to school. Her students’ health is so fragile that they need their schooling to be brought to them. My mom has always been a light in her students’ eyes and tries to make the best of every situation. I would like to do the same, however, in more of a roundabout way. Through science, I will be able to make a difference in peoples’ lives by hopefully finding explanations and cures for different illnesses that will make their lives a little easier.
What do you hope the INBRE program will do for you?
I am hoping that the INBRE program will allow me to be able to find my niche in which path I would like to research further for my Ph.D. and later on in life.
How do you see science evolving over the next 20 years?
That’s a very hard question to answer, because science has already changed drastically from even 20 years ago. It’s absolutely unbelievable to think that the Human Genome Project was completed only 16 years ago and it took 13 years to complete, but as of recently, it takes merely a couple of hours to complete the same task! Overall, I believe there will be more of a shift toward personalized medicine and science will become more data driven.