After a successful and productive summer, Upstate SURF students participated in the 2023 Summer Symposium hosted by Syracuse University’s Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Engagement (SOURCE). Undergraduate students looking for more hands-on experience presented posters highlighting the research they conducted this summer in various Upstate laboratories. Four of this year’s SURF students worked in the Cancer Research Center with various researchers; learning lab skills, attending seminars, and getting first-hand knowledge about graduate school.

Tanishka Gajula- Sophomore Biology Major, Syracuse University

Tanishka Gajula, a Biology major at Syracuse University, spent the summer conducting research in Dr. Kotula's lab at Upstate.

Tanishka spent the summer in Dr. Kotula’s lab, studying antigen deprivation therapy (ADT), a treatment for prostate cancer. While effective in treating cancer, it can also cause cognitive impairment.

Her poster highlighted her work researching the role of ABI1 in dendritic spines; the loss of those spines is linked to dementia.

“I didn't really know much about the PhD process; originally my goal was to be a physician. Now I know there's an option for an MD/PhD program. Through SURF, I've seen and worked with MD/PhD candidates which has been really cool. That's opened my eyes to how many more options there are.”

Sunjae Lee- Senior Biochemistry Major, Binghamton University

Sunjae Lee, a chemistry major at Binghamton University, presented her findings after spending the summer working in Dr. Karimi's lab.

In Dr. Karimi’s lab, Sunjae studied the immune system; specifically natural killer cells which are a part of the body’s innate immunity, or the first line of defense. Her poster presented her findings researching the role of TCF-1 in natural killer cells. While Sunjae has been working as a pharmaceutical research assistant during her undergraduate education, spending the summer in the world of biology research was a valuable experience; overlapping well with her work at Binghamton. She is taking away valuable lessons from her summer at Upstate.

“Honestly, I think I've really learned to be comfortable with failure because experiments don't really go as planned very often, but I'm much more used to that whole process; I think I feel more confident in pursuing research in the future.”

Yuliia Humeniak- Senior Chemistry Major, University of the South

Yuliia Humeniak, a chemistry major at the University of the South in Tennessee, spent the summer at Upstate learning new skills in Dr. Lu's lab.

Yuliia spent the summer in Dr. Lu’s lab, preparing green fluorescent proteins that can be used to determine DNA binding sites in hepatoma cells; which then could be used to potentially map the genome and study how the binding affects gene regulation. Spending the summer in a lab has helped Yuliia pin down what she wants to pursue in her career.

“I really enjoyed my project; I think I will pursue something that is more translational, seeing directly how it can be applied to help people, It is one thing to find a drug, to detect its structure, and figure out how it works chemically and biochemically but it feels a lot more purposeful to actually see how it's going to progress down the road and develop actual medical applications.”

Savanah Neupert- Senior Biochemistry Major, University of Rochester

Savanah Neupert, a biochemistry major at the University of Rochester, spent the summer in Dr. Woodford lab surrounded by like-minded students gaining valuable lab experience.

In Dr. Woodford’s lab, Savanah studied the interaction between the mitochondrial chaperone TRAP1 and glucose derivative GlcNAc; to possibly figure out how to target TRAP1 specifically in cancer cells. Along with learning new lab skills and getting a taste of what graduate school will be like, Savanah was excited to spend the summer with like-minded students.

“I think the people here are really nice, especially the people that they chose for the program. Being in a group of peers that are also interested in doing the same kind of research has been interesting because no one else in my other school is this into biochemistry.”

The Upstate SURF program is available to undergraduate students in good academic standing, who are majoring in chemistry, biology, or a related field. Applicants must have a strong interest in pursuing a Ph.D. degree in biomedical research. To learn more, visit https://www.upstate.edu/grad/programs/summer.php