SURF provides research reality to college students
By Lin Lofley
Nearly 100 college students recently wrapped up a 10-week regimen of laboratory work and discovery on the UT Southwestern Medical Center campus. For many participating in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, the dream of making a career in the field of research moved nearer to reality.
“SURF 2016 was successful in bringing another group of bright and enthusiastic undergraduates to UT Southwestern, where they gained a good look at what world-class research requires and also had the opportunity to make a positive impact on their assigned individual labs,” said Dr. Nancy Street, Associate Dean of UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and Associate Professor of Microbiology. “This year’s poster session was outstanding, due to the attendance of our graduate faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students, as well as the level of scientific research that was displayed.”
In addition to SURF, specialty programs now offered under the SURF umbrella include a Quantitative and Physical Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (QP-SURF) program, a National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases-funded program devoted to kidney disease – called the Summer Undergraduate Research Institution for the Study of Kidney Disease (SURISKD) – and a pair of new programs: the SURF-CANCER program, and a summer research partnership with UT El Paso as part of the National Institutes of Health-funded Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) initiative. This year, more than 1,200 undergraduate students from across the nation applied for SURF slots; 98 made the cut.
The opportunity to interact with people who are working every day in the lab is SURF’s primary attraction; fellows are immersed in their independent projects and also get the chance to learn about the depth and breadth of research under way at UT Southwestern. The program’s lunchtime lecture series helps expose the fellows to current research. The weekly lectures spotlight a UT Southwestern researcher who can discuss ongoing research efforts and also provide advice to the students about where to go next in their budding careers.
One 2016 SURF lecture featured Nobel Laureate Dr. Michael Brown, Professor of Molecular Genetics and Internal Medicine, who talked about “Why Hearts Attack.” Dr. Brown shared the 1985 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with his colleague at UT Southwestern, Dr. Joseph Goldstein, Chairman and Professor of Molecular Genetics, and Professor of Internal Medicine.
“Having lecturers talk to us about different topics in science and different methods of finding answers to unanswered questions has helped me open my mind more and improve my critical thinking skills,” said Bryan Cobo Torres, who studies cellular molecular biology at the Rio Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico. “I had one of the most wonderful and fascinating opportunities ever.”
Mr. Cobo Torres spent his summer working the lab of Dr. Nick Conrad, Associate Professor of Microbiology. Among his most memorable experiences was a lunchtime lecture by Dr. Ralph Deberardinis, Chief of the Division of Pediatric Genetics and Metabolism, and Associate Professor in both the Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern, and Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development.
“[Dr. Deberardinis] presented his research in a very dynamic and intuitive way, actually immersing the audience in the process of research and using the audience's critical thinking skills,” Mr. Cobo Torres said. “I found it a captivating and very thought-provoking hour.”
Another SURF fellow, Gerardo Guevara, who is majoring in biochemistry at UT Dallas, participated in research at UT Southwestern both as a Green fellow and subsequently as a SURF participant.
He was involved in work at Dr. Deberardinis’ lab on the North Campus, where “I was exposed to a unique approach to treating cancer – by studying its metabolism.
“SURF is a great cultivating opportunity for students who want to make an impact on the scientific community,” said Mr. Guevara, a San Antonio native. “It allows us to develop the necessary skills to be successful scientists, whether as a physician treating patients, or researchers in a lab answering scientific questions.”
Sydney Olson, a science and global health major at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, expressed her appreciation “for the opportunity to hear about the diverse career paths of the many of the scientists at UT Southwestern. Each lecturer has a different story about what led them to their research interests. I’m fascinated by the variety of people this institution attracts.”
SURF also provided social gatherings to bond the students, who were separated by their schedules during the work day, but were often brought together after hours. Not surprisingly, visiting the Perot Museum of Nature and Science was a popular event, but the students also took time to attend a Texas Rangers baseball game and the Dallas World Aquarium.
###
Dr. Brown, Director of the Erik Jonsson Center for Research in Molecular Genetics and Human Disease, is a Regental Professor and holds the W.A. (Monty) Moncrief Distinguished Chair in Cholesterol and Arteriosclerosis Research, and the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine.
Dr. Conrad is a Southwestern Medical Foundation Scholar in Biomedical Research.
Dr. Deberardinis holds the Joel B. Steinberg, M.D. Chair in Pediatrics, and is a Sowell Family Scholar in Medical Research.
Dr. Goldstein is a Regental Professor and holder of both the Julie and Louis A. Beecherl, Jr. Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Research, and of the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine.
