Student interns participate in WVU Cancer Institute summer research program
The West Virginia University Cancer Institute has welcomed five student interns to the WVU Health Sciences Campus in Morgantown to participate in its nine week Summer Undergraduate Research Program.
“Our program is designed for undergraduate students to fully immerse in full-time experimentation with hands-on experience in many laboratory techniques currently used in cancer research,” Alexey Ivanov, Ph.D., summer program coordinator and research assistant professor in the School of Medicine, said. “While their academic program mostly provides didactic instruction with some basic lab practicums, our program puts the students at the bench side by side with graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and it allows them to participate in real-life research projects funded by the NIH and other agencies.”
This year’s participants include: Ankit Daga, a junior majoring in biochemistry at Gettysburg College, mentored by Emidio Pistilli, Ph.D.; Maya Dixon-Gross, a sophomore majoring in biology at WVU, mentored by Ivan Martinez, Ph.D.; Angelina Duriez, a sophomore majoring in biochemistry at WVU, mentored by Elena Pugacheva, Ph.D.; Ashton Pollack, a sophomore majoring in biochemistry at WVU, mentored by Ivanov; and Madison Sigler, a junior majoring in biology at WVU, mentored by Scott Weed, Ph.D.
The WVU Cancer Institute program is offered every summer for undergraduate students interested in clinical and basic cancer research. The competitive program offers funding and mentorship and hands-on experiences for students who want to pursue a career in research.
“We are selecting students who want to advance their research skills to the next level,” Ivanov added. “This experience gives them an invaluable opportunity to test the depth of their academic education and improve their problem solving, communication, writing and presentation skills and stimulate their passion for science. Many of them aim to go to graduate or medical school after graduation and participation in the program will enhance their resume for future career applications.
“I feel very excited about engaging with this year’s students in the program and I am looking forward to their successes – and unavoidable setbacks – and professional growth.”
The program offers various projects that give valuable research experience focused upon molecular, biochemical and/or cellular approaches toward understanding the mechanism of cancer, the development of anticancer drugs and applications of nanotechnology to cancer research. The participating labs focus on breast, lung, pancreatic and head and neck cancers, as well as hematological malignancies such as leukemia or lymphoma.
Financial support for the fellowship program is provided by the Edwin C. Spurlock Fellowship Fund, Edward L. Reed Cancer Research Endowment, Dr. David B. McClung Cancer Research Endowment Fund and Joe Marconi Cancer Research Fellowship Endowment.
Photo above: Participants in this year’s WVU Cancer Institute Summer Undergraduate Research Program include (from left to right) Angelina Duriez, Maya Dixon-Gross, Ashton Pollack, Ankit Daga and Madison Sigler.
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as/5/29/24