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What do prenatal sleep deprivation in rats, anti-cancer drugs, stimulant use, algaecides and divorce all have in common? They are the research topics our 2016 Summer Research Institute (SRI) participants selected. The 26 students, working in five separate groups, presented their research pre-proposals on July 20, 2016 at the conclusion of the 8-week residential health research training program. Audience members included our NIH Program Officer, Dr. Pamela Thornton, and Program Scientist, Dr. Nelson Aguila, as well as faculty from research-intensive institution partners at Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, National Cancer Institute and representatives from pipeline partners in Baltimore City Community College and Prince George’s Community College. The audience also included Morgan State University (MSU) leadership: Dr. David Wilson, the president of the university; Dr. Victor McCrary, the vice president for research and economic development; as well as several school deans and associate deans. Additionally, several members of the students’ families attended!
The SRI is taught by five instructors, and the students are supported by five near-peer mentors. Multiple MSU faculty are involved in teaching individual lessons. Building on last summer’s experience, the curriculum was enriched with more hands-on “bench” mini-studies. The students were able to work remotely with our colleagues at Northeastern University in Boston, MA, with their functional MRI machine, and the students went on field trips to the Kennedy Krieger Institute and the Lipinski Laboratory in the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of Maryland at Baltimore.
“The creativity and drive of our ASCEND SRI students continues to amaze and uplift me. With the right mix of training, challenge and support, our students can soar. Our first Summer Research Institute in 2015 was proof of concept that an entrepreneurial approach to research training is feasible,” said Dr. Christine Hohmann, the program director.
Photo caption: Morgan State ASCEND Summer Research Institute students Kaaliyah McDowell, Mabinty Conteh, and Hamidah Famuditimi, presenting on their research proposal titled “African-American Childhood Experiences of Parental Divorce and its Effects on Stress Levels as College Students.”
Photo credit: Michael Ciesielski
