Health Sciences

Dedicated focus

Summer research program allows students to hone their skills in the lab full time

Ph.D. student Jenree Maglasang looks at brain cells that have been stained with fluorescent antibodies which allows them to be seen under a microscope.

It’s often difficult for undergraduate students to build on their experiences in a research lab while focusing on a full class schedule during a typical semester. A summer research program can help remedy that.

The Biomedical Sciences Summer Research Program is a 10-week research training program where students work full time in laboratories developing and refining their research and communication skills as they gain the necessary experience to succeed in their respective fields.

Junior Biomedical Sciences student Abby Larson has worked in Dr. Jacob Capin’s Life After Sports Trajectory Lab since her freshman year. There she learned basic testing procedures and even wrote an abstract for a scientific research paper.

“Having the opportunity to be in the lab during the summer allows me to gain independence and hone the skills I’ll need to learn to have more agency as I continue as part of the research team,” Larson says. “Working here full time means I’ll see participants complete all of the exercises and do all the behind-the-scenes work like data collection and analysis.”

For Ph.D. student Jenree Maglasang, H Sci ’20, the Summer Research Program helped cement his decision to pursue a doctorate in research.  He says he valued the dedicated time the program gave him as an undergraduate student to see experiments from start to finish.

“I had whole days where there weren’t any other things on my schedule that I had to attend to,” Maglasang says. “I spent my whole summer doing research, which allowed for mastery of the techniques, not just popping in and out of the lab during — by the end I was doing it all myself.”

Maglasang’s doctoral research pursuit is within Dr. Paul Gasser’s lab, studying how stress affects the brain and assessing the effects of stress on different cell types in the brain.

“During my time in the summer program, I realized how much I liked research, but I also got to see that research takes time, effort and hard work,” Maglasang says. “Without knowing that, I don’t think I would’ve been as well equipped or prepared to handle what I’m handling now as a graduate student.”

Junior Abby Larson straps in a research subject for a test in Dr. Capin’s Life After Sports Trajectory Lab.

At the end of the Summer Research Program, all participants present their research to the cohort in a seven-minute “data blitz” where students must communicate their summer’s work effectively and economically.  Larson says she is looking forward to her presentation and to sharpening her communication skills.

“My goal is to attend medical school and become a pediatrician,” Larson says. “So being able to break down complicated diagnoses for parents to understand, but also explain in simple, easy terms for children is really important.”

Larson says she likes how the Summer Research Program allows her to see what other labs that participate are investigating rather than being isolated solely to her own lab.

“I get to see how other health problems might be addressed and try to apply those approaches to our work where applicable,” Larson says. “It’s so cool to see work conducted in other labs at Marquette and explore potential career opportunities for the future.”

For more information on the Summer Research Program, visit its website.