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College students learn joys, frustration of biomedical research |
| By
Jim Winkler |
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Aug 7, 2007 |
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| Robert Frazier, a UT senior majoring in bioengineering, is working in a College of Medicine research lab this summer. |
Ask Robert Frazier, a senior bioengineering major at The University of Toledo, what he’s doing this summer, and he’ll start talking about the eight hours a day he’s spending in a research lab on the Health Science Campus growing viruses in cell cultures and learning how to perform a western blot, a laboratory test that measures protein expression.
The Petersburg, Mich., native is among 12 college students, including three other UT students, enrolled in the College of Medicine’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) directed by Dr. Robert Crissman, professor of neurosciences.
The undergraduate students are assigned a mentor, conduct experiments, read scientific journals and listen to lectures — all with the aim of finding out if a career as a biomedical scientist is for them.
The students were competitively selected for the program and arrived in June for 10 weeks of laboratory work and lectures. In addition to gaining hands-on experience, they attend weekly seminars where they learn about science and laboratory topics and get a $3,500 stipend. The students will give talks on their research at a symposium in August. The College of Medicine started the program 10 years ago after realizing that research should be encouraged at the undergraduate as well as the graduate level.
For his part, Frazier, who is working under the direction of Dr. Stephen Patrick, assistant professor of biochemistry and cancer biology, loves the work and said he has learned a lot this summer. Patrick is studying cell resistance to cisplatin, a chemotherapeutic agent for ovarian cancer.
“It is gratifying when you carry out an experiment and the results confirm your hypothesis,” Frazier said.
It’s the first time he has ever worked in a research laboratory. For Frazier and the other students conducting research, the goal is not a journal paper or a historic breakthrough, but is about learning that does not involve sitting in a lecture hall, about appreciating the challenges and rewards of a career in biomedical research. He is thinking about attending medical school after graduation and possibly enrolling in an MD/PhD program.
Other college and universities represented by SURF students include Oberlin, Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania, Purdue, Baldwin-Wallace, University of Findlay and University of Michigan.
Summer research and education for college students has grown into something of an industry on the Health Science Campus, and undergraduates have become regulars in professors’ labs and research projects for a decade.
In addition to the SURF program, college students are enrolled in the College of Medicine-sponsored Summer Undergraduate Research Program that is aimed at attracting well-qualified pre-med students to the Health Science Campus and exposing them to medical school curriculum. During the 10-week summer program, which is directed by Dr. James Kleshinski, professor of medicine and College of Medicine associate dean for admissions, the students participated in various medical classes, patient interviewing, and an introduction to problem-based learning.
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