Want proof that the Summer Undergraduate Research Program works?
Attend Thursday’s poster presentation, from 11 a.m. to noon in the Sorrell Center’s Truhlsen Event Center. There will be 90 undergraduate students showcasing their research projects.
Jennifer Escher, education associate, recruitment and student engagement, said the 10-year-old recruitment tool exposes undergraduate students in the Midwest to research for 10 weeks.
“Many students are interested in science and they think of going into medicine first,” she said. “Some students change their minds and want to do research. This gives them an idea to see the variety of areas they can work in. The program brings talented students here, many who ultimately come back to UNMC to pursue the sciences.”
Students become members of research teams, learn about research activities at UNMC, learn research terminology, engage in a research project, attend lectures, tour the campus, create research posters then go back and finish their undergrad programs.
The SURP program is the main reason Laura Flores chose to apply to the M.D./Ph.D. program at UNMC.
“The program allowed me to experience the vast amount of research available on campus as well as gain some great clinical experience,” said Flores, who will start medical school this month. “The program gave me insight into how generous and enthusiastic the professors and physicians are at UNMC, as well as how many opportunities are available for students.”
Flores worked under Shilpa Buch, Ph.D., in pharmacology and experimental neuroscience.
“She is an absolute rock star and pushed me to feel confident as a minority woman in science,” Flores said.
In her science program, she will work with Ted Mikuls, M.D., an internal medicine rheumatologist and researcher.
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Laura Flores |
Anne Prouse, who attends Creighton University as a pre-med undergraduate, is the daughter of a physician who did his residency and fellowship at UNMC about 20 years ago and also was a fellow and mentee of Deb Romberger, M.D., chair of the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine.
Prouse applied to the program because she was interested in gaining basic science experience. She’s been studying lung and bone health immunology in connection with agricultural health and exposure to dust from swine confinement facilities. Her mentor is Jill Poole, M.D.
“Research is a lot more interesting and fun to me now,” Prouse said. “I see how passionate those in research are and the work that comes along with it.”