Summer Undergraduate Experience

By William Martinson

In summer 2017, I was fortunate to do research at the University of Michigan as part of the Frankel Cardiovascular Center Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (FCVC-SURF). I had just completed my junior year at Brown University, where I was studying Applied Mathematics-Biology (a joint degree offered by my college’s Applied Math department that focusses on using mathematical modeling and statistical analysis in biology). I knew I wanted to pursue my interests in mathematics and biology post-graduation but wasn’t sure how exactly they could be used together in a future career. Also, unlike some of my peers, I had no wet lab experience outside the classroom and was intimidated to commit myself to graduate studies and biology research without first understanding what it would be like.

The FCVC-SURF program was the perfect summer experience: it exposed me to cutting-edge research in biology, but more than that, it gave me the opportunity to meet and learn from a wide range of doctors, scientists, and physician-scientists who were free to pursue their passions for science in ways that made a tangible difference in others’ lives. I worked for the lab of Dr. Jordan Shavit, a hematologist/oncologist who studies the genetics of blood clotting and its associated disorders in zebrafish. I assisted in the design and implementation of a mutagenesis screen for modifiers of thrombosis. I learned how to perform a variety of techniques that I had only heard about in my courses, in addition to some that I hadn’t even imagined existed. I gained a better appreciation for the nature of research and came to love it by the end of my time at Michigan. I quickly became close friends with other members of my cohort, and together we enjoyed the sights and wonderful aspects Ann Arbor had to offer. I still have a small photo that I found at the city’s annual art fair decorating my room back home.

The most special aspect of the FCVC-SURF program was the weekly talks I attended as part of the program, in which faculty members from the FCVC and MIP came to discuss their career paths, the story behind their research interests, and their advice for undergraduates like myself (these were joint talks among the FCVC-SURF and other MIP summer undergraduate research programs). By hearing about these researchers’ pathways into biomedical research, I came to bet

ter understand what kind of postgraduate study I would be most passionate to pursue, and how I could apply my knowledge to answer pertinent questions that could have a large impact in medicine and society. In fact, without the FCVCSURF program, I would not have learned about or applied to the graduate program in which I’m currently enrolled. It was at one of the SURF program’s talks that I heard from Dr. Santiago Schnell, who spoke about his journey to Michigan’s MIP department and his experiences as a graduate mathematics student at the University of Oxford. From him, I came to learn about the mathematicians in Oxford’s Mathematical Biology group, who were using the same modeling and statistical techniques from my undergraduate courses to assist experimentalists and doctors in research and in the clinic. Dr. Schnell’s enthusiasm for his graduate education, his mentors, and his current research inspired me to apply to the University of Oxford, where I am currently in my second year as a DPhil student, developing and analyzing mathematical models for angiogenesis and neural crest cell migration.

Thanks to the FCVC-SURF program, I gained confidence in my ability to pursue biomedical research and discovered the perfect graduate program for my background and research interests. I would like to thank all those involved with the MIP summer programs for providing the opportunity to take my first genuine step into science, for giving undergraduate students like me a chance to experience what research and life as a graduate student is like, and for helping me learn about what careers exist in medicine and biology post-graduation.

The Early Years of Physiology at Michigan

A highlight of the early history of our department from the University of Michigan Encyclopedic Survey, Bicentennial Edition.

The Department of Physiology at the University of Michigan was one of the first basic science departments at a Medical School in the United States. Now renamed Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, the department has continually been noted for its strong emphasis on education at all levels, for its landmark research and for its contributions to leadership in the scientific community.

Below we share a brief highlight of the early history of our department prepared by Dr. Jessica Schwartz with Drs. Fred Karsch, John McReynolds, John Williams for the University of Michigan Bicentennial (2017). The most recent edition of our department history is available through the University of Michigan: An Encyclopedic Survey – Bicentennial Education on https://www.lib.umich.edu/database/link/44263

Essential roles of Physiology in the early years of the Medical School: Physiology has been an essential part of the University of Michigan Medical School curriculum since the Medical School was founded. Initially, Physiology was taught in the Departments of Medicine and Surgery, but it was so fundamental that in 1882 a separate Physiology Department was established as one of the earliest in the US. Dedicated to its teaching mission, the early Department of Physiology devoted an entire floor of East Medical Building (now the 1100 North University Avenue Building) to student laboratories. The research mission was also strong and innovative, facilitated by an experienced Instrument and Electronics Shop, which made custom-designed equipment for experiments and student laboratories. Under the leadership of early Department Chairs, H. Sewall (1882), W.H. Howell (1889), W.P. Lombard (1892), and R. Gesell (1923), research programs focused on respiratory physiology and neurophysiology, and the Department had strong links with Physics and Engineering. Gesell was dedicated to the humane treatment of animals, which led to the establishment of the Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, directed for many years by Physiology Professor Bennett Cohen.

The Physiology Department at Michigan remained at the forefront of the field, participating actively in the founding of the American Physiological Society in 1887; four of the 28 charter members were associated with the University of Michigan. Another notable early contribution of the Michigan Physiology Department to the field was A Brief Text of Physiology for Dental, Premedical and College Students by Carl Wiggers, a medical student and subsequently an Instructor in Physiology, who went on to become an internationallyrecognized cardiovascular physiologist. Both leadership and the writing of definitive textbooks were to become continuing traditions of the faculty of the Physiology Department at Michigan, helping mainting the prominence of the Department to the present day.