Summer programs stimulate undergrads’ research interest

That Deani Haggerty spent her summer with rats doesn’t bother her. In fact, she hopes to do the same again next year.

Haggerty, a biology major entering her junior year at Mississippi State University, researched gestational diabetes. Though it’s a common disease in pregnant women, she observed it in rats because of their shorter gestation and, well, it’s a summer program.

Haggerty was among nearly 40 undergraduate students in one of two internship programs at UMMC’s School of Graduate Studies: Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) and Research Experience Opportunity (REO).

Haggerty, a Biloxi native, worked in Dr. Christine Marci’s lab.

“Science has always been my favorite subject. I heard about the SURE program through my advisor, applied and got in,” she said. “I really enjoyed the work. It’s a lot more hands-on than I thought.”

Students researched topics from cancer treatment and neuroscience to renal function and the sensory functions of whiskers in mammals. They also attended seminars on the current state of biomedical research and learned about career opportunities. For the graduate school, the programs offer a chance to further interest potential graduate students in the laboratory science careers.

To wrap up their programs, students on Aug. 7 gave presentations on their research. From a podium in the Norman C. Nelson Student Union, they expertly explained slideshows of complex charts of nerve pathways, graphs of hormone levels and microscopic images of assayed specimens.

Boshen Liu, a Madison native and sophomore at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, worked with Dr. Thomas Lohmeier in an ongoing study of high blood pressure.

“I definitely, definitely want to pursue a career in the science field. I’ve known that since high school,” he said. “I’m interested in the mechanics, the pathways of how things work. I want to work in a field with human studies.”

Liu’s program motivated him all the more and, like other students said of their mentor professors, he’s glad for the opportunity.

“It’s nothing short of what I expected,” he said.

UMMC’s funded SURE program spans 10 weeks and just completed its second year. Funding for the 12-week REO program comes from a federal grant administered through the University of SouthernMississippi.

-Jack Mazurak

2009-08-17 00:00:00 18969