SURF Students Gain an Appreciation for the Challenges of Scientific Research
By Chuck Carlson
Vivian Morris, an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, signed up for the 10-week summer Student Undergraduate Research Fellow (SURF) program with what she called “romantic” ideas of what scientific research could be.
“You see people come in thinking they’re going to cure cancer,” she said of the often overlooked, frequently frustrating, and sometimes heroic work done in the labs.
And while curing cancer may not have been part of the curriculum, gaining an appreciation for good science at the Michigan State University Pharmacology & Toxicology Department’s SURF program certainly was.
Morris also admits that while her viewpoint on the romance of the subject may have changed a little, it still lives.
“It’s a good look at what life as a Ph.D. student is like,” she said. “Being in a lab gives you a sense of what it actually is.”
And it’s an experience Morris and her eight SURF colleagues will take with them and, in many cases, follow through with as their education continues.
Funded by the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET), the SURF program has been a part of MSU for more than 30 years and is currently coordinated by Dr. Susan Barman.
It introduces undergraduate students to pharmacology research as they spend a fast-paced 40 hours a week (under the guidance of PhmTox professors) researching topics ranging from how chemotherapy drugs affect the brain, to the causes of dementia, to the intricacies of how blood clots.
And those topics, and more, were explained by SURF students in their public presentations to current PhmTox students and faculty on Friday. The students will also present posters at the Mid-Michigan Symposium for Undergraduate Research Experiences (Mid-SURE) on campus, and that will signal the close of their initial experience in research. It was an eye-opening experience for many of them.
“I think what was most important to me was the collaboration and the trial and error,” said Alicia Taylor, who will be a junior this fall at Michigan State majoring in human biology. “It was very rewarding to produce data.”
Kevin Conzemius will begin his senior year at MSU majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology. Kevin studied the impact of acetaminophen on the liver and came away with a new appreciation of how the body works.
“Just understanding how the liver is able to repair itself,” he said. “I’m very pleased we got results.”
Charlotte Krollman, who will be a sophomore this fall at MSU, has always enjoyed research and is hoping to focus on neurodegeneration as a career. She used the SURF program to gain experience.
“Before I came here, I was very shaky in terms of research,” she said. “But this has given me confidence.”
SURF PRESENTERS AND THEIR TOPICS
Christine Butawo (Dr. de Aguiar Ferreira’s Lab): Investigation of the Reproducibility of an Immunocompetent Mouse Model for Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen-Targeted Radiotheranostics.
Kevin Conzemius (Dr. Copple’s Lab): Angiostatins Protectiveness After Acetaminophen Overdose.
Vrinda Khullar (Dr. Horibata’s Lab): Optimizing Techniques to Visualize the Microtubule Architecture of the Brain.
Charlotte Krollman (Dr. Lee’s Lab): Altering the Ketone of TPPU leads to increased efficacy in enzyme inhibition as demonstrated in an animal model of c. elegans.
Taylor Lewis (Dr. Dorrance’s Lab): Impact of Hypertension on Astrocyte and Microglia quantity and activation state in the Corpus Callosum of Male and Female ADIRF (+) mice.
Vivian Morris (Dr. Bernard’s Lab): The Role of Obesity in Tamoxifen-Resistant ER+ Breast Cancer Cell Growth.
Rosita Shafiq (Dr. Kanada’s Lab): Exploring the Mechanism Underlying Piezo 1-Mediated Calcium Influx and Extracellular Vesicle Production.
Alicia Taylor (Drs. Luyendyk, Lauver Labs): The Impact of 12-LOX inhibitor, ML355, on hepatotoxicity and repair in experimental acute liver failure.
Riley Wimberley (Dr. Luyendyk’s Lab): Influence of Tissue Transglutaminase on Fibrinogen Solubility in In-Vitro Clot Formation.