and realized how many cool research projects are happening at CUSOM! Advice to MS-I’s and future medical students: Spend the summer between your first and second year doing what makes you happy. You don’t necessarily have to have a research experience. If you want to have something that would be nice to have on your resume, then you should do that. However, it is most important to use this summer to help you recharge and get ready for the second year.
ERIC YU
Hometown: Sparta, New Jersey Education: Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, University of Richmond; CERT Virginia Commonwealth University Hobbies: Golfing, video games, and reading. Research project title and role: Analysis of the presence of anti tNASP antibody in the serum of patient with 10 most common types of cancers. PI: Dr. Oleg Alekseev I worked together with Madeline Walker analyzing patient serum for anti tNASP antibody, which has potential to be a cancer biomarker. A cancer biomarker can help with early diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cancer. Why did you choose to participate in the summer scholars program and what did you learn? I chose to participate in the summer scholars program because I love doing research. Before pursuing medicine, I worked as a chemistry graduate researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University pursuing lowering the cost of active pharmaceutical ingredients.
interest in metabolic health and the pathophysiology of insulin resistance. I was very excited to work with Dr. Pennings who shares this passion and has performed numerous studies looking at this very topic. Advice to MS-I’s and future medical students: Year 1 is a busy year, but if something catches your interest try to reach out to the lecture professor to learn more about that idea. Our professors are real people with real interests, and they would love to spend the time sharing their passion with you.
JOSHUA JENKINS Hometown: Bristow, VA
Education: B.S. in Biology with Minor in Biochemistry, Christopher Newport University Hobbies: golf, disc golf, baseball, video games, and adventures with my wife. Research project title and role: Performance Improvement – Trauma Guidelines and Algorithm Adherence at WakeMed Raleigh with Sarah McIntyre, Trauma Nurse Coordinator; Research Assistant Why did you choose to participate in the Summer Scholars Program and what did you learn? I decided to participate in summer scholars because resurgent scholarship is the most important tool for the advancement of medicine. I want to be part of something that could improve the bigger picture of patient care. From this experience, I learned a significant amount of the inner workings of a hospital setting, Guideline development and improvement of patient care in an acute clinical environment.
Over the summer, I really wanted to do some type of research, and the summer scholars program offered the opportunity to do that. Dr. Alekseev has been a great mentor and instructor, and I highly recommend the summer scholars program.
Advice to MS-I’s and future medical students: Medical school is just one piece of a long journey. Do not let it be the only thing that defines you. Doing things that make you happy makes all the work worth it.
Advice to MS-I’s and future medical students: Find the plan that works the best for you and stick with it. Be efficient with your time, always make time for yourself, and always make time to help others.
SARAH BOGAN
LUIS ANTHONY ACEVEDO
Education: BS Pre-medical Biology , Campbell University
Education: Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences, University of Florida
Hobbies: Taking my dog hiking, traveling, target shooting, exploring new food, going to zoos and aquariums, and mudding!
Hobbies: Competitive Powerlifting and coffee connoisseur.
Research project title and role? Deltoid Muscle Fiber Architecture.
Hometown: Gainesville, FL
Research project title and role: Comparison of fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and their combination for assessing diabetes risk. PI: Dr. Nick Pennings My role in the project was to do a deep dive of current research utilizing insulin to predict the progression to diabetes. Our analysis would provide more evidence to this body of research by analyzing the CARDIA cohort for the utility of fasting insulin as a predictive blood marker for progression to diabetes in a large population of people. Why did you choose to participate in the summer scholars program and what did you learn? I have always had a great 10 SPECIAL EDITION - 2021
Hometown: Sanford, NC
I worked with classmate Justin Baird on this project; we dissected cadavers to remove their deltoid muscles. We digested the muscles in nitric acid and measured the fibers lengths and observed muscle pennation. Why did you choose to participate in the summer scholars program and what did you learn? Anatomy was my favorite class during our first year of medical school, and I missed not working with cadavers due to COVID-19. I thought the MSSR program would be a great opportunity to dive deeper in anatomy while getting hands-on experience with cadavers at the same time. I never thought of specializing in surgery, but I think I’m pretty
