It Starts with A Spark!
reported by Christopher McDonald
STT – Everyday thousands of researchers are experiencing hot topics in areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (S.T.E.M.).
On Tuesday, November 15 UVI students from the Albert A. Sheen and St. Thomas campuses traveled to Anaheim, California to attend the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS).
During this event, UVI students presented their summer research projects in front of judges and attended workshops and seminars.
Over 300 hundred students from across the nation were at the event. This ranged from undergraduates to postbaccalaureates. The categories for the abstracts included the following: biochemistry and molecular biology, cancer biology, Cell Biology, Chemistry, Computational and Systems Biology, Developmental Biology and Genetics, Engineering, Physics and Mathematics, Immunology, Microbiology, Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, and Social and Behavioral Science and Public Health.
Torhera Durand’s abstract focused on HPV and Innate Immunity: Defining the Role of the ATR DNA Damage Response Pathway in Immune Evasion of HPV Infected Cells.
Ashley Powell, 22, senior, mathematics said, “I had a great time presenting my research.”
Ashley Powell, 22, senior, mathematics said, “I had a great time presenting my research on Exact Confidence Intervals for the Youden Index and corresponding Optimal Cut-Point Using Normally Distributed Pooled Data.”
Conference registrations began on Wednesday, November 19, followed by several sessions. They included “How to Make an Effective Poster and Oral Presentation,” “Building Your Personal Statements,” and “The In’s and Outs of Graduate School.” ABRCMS also provided students the opportunity to network with various organizations.
To give an idea, the American Association for Cancer Research, Boston University, Drexel University, and Rutgers were present. They gave details about admissions, graduate programs, and career opportunities.
Over fifteen UVI students received the opportunity to participate at this conference.
Christopher McDonald, a UVI student said “(ABRCMS) taught me a lot about applying to graduate school and leadership skills. It was an amazing experience to be one of the students to represent UVI.”
