Research Takes VCU Student Researchers Outside the Lab

By Sathya Achia Abraham

A group of 25 Virginia Commonwealth University undergraduate students and post-baccalaureate trainees received a lesson in how research can take them places beyond the lab.

Last month, these students and several VCU faculty members traveled to St. Louis, Mo., to attend the 2011 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students, or ABRCMS – the largest professional conference for students studying biomedical and behavioral sciences.  Nearly 3,300 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 350 U.S. colleges and universities participate in the four-day long conference, now in its 11^th year.

The opportunity to travel and present research at a national conference as an undergraduate or post-baccalaureate represents a major opportunity. It’s a chance for aspiring investigators to share their research – a culmination of many months of work - with peers and the scientific community.

That’s what excited Simone White, 21, who is currently participating in the VCU Post-baccalaureate Research Education Program, or PREP – one of six research training programs similar to PREP offered through the VCU Center on Health Disparities. The programs are designed to bring more underrepresented minorities into the biomedical sciences.

While White admits to being nervous at first, she enjoyed the opportunity to interact with other students, faculty and scientists from across the country.

White, who graduated from Binghamton University in New York in May with a major in biological sciences, said her involvement with PREP at VCU helped her prepare for her conference experience. White has been examining the genetic and environmental influences on post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric phenotypes together with her faculty mentor, Ananda B. Amstadter, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics.

Before attending the conference, White and her colleagues attended sessions through the PREP program where they were able to practice presenting their research. She also attended seminars and lectures to observe how others present their work.

“This experience was very important professionally and personally,” White said. “Not only was I able to develop my presentation skills, I was able to network with faculty from other institutions who are a great source of information and potential future mentors.”

Bringing more minorities to STEM

Many of White’s VCU peers who traveled to the conference from Richmond are taking part in one of these pipeline programs. Other programs at VCU include STEP-UP, HERO, IMSD , MARC, IRACDA and the NHLBI Summer for Sickle Cell Science Program. These programs bring area high school students, and undergraduate, master, doctoral and post-doctoral students from across the country to the campuses of VCU to participate in hands-on learning and the opportunity to work alongside some of the institution’s leading experts and researchers. The VCU Center on Health Disparities also partners with Elizabeth City State University to train additional students through the E-SPARE program.

“Recent media reports have documented the dearth of African Americans pursuing STEM degrees,” said Suzanne Barbour, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, and director for the research training programs at the VCU Center on Health Disparities. “Many of the trainees who attended ABRCMS, both from VCU and other institutions, are African American. These talented individuals are clearly ‘bucking the trend.’ This is an indication that VCU may be in the forefront of addressing a national problem.”

Additionally, according to Joyce Lloyd, Ph.D., director for the PREP program, and professor and vice chair of education in the VCU Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, many of the post- baccalaureate students in the PREP come to VCU from California, New York, Tennessee and Georgia and serve as role models for the undergraduates interested in research, because they are one step further along on the road to a Ph.D. 

“Through the conference, the PREP students, and the undergrads as well, heard a unified message from faculty across the country about the commitment it takes to go to graduate school, and it has helped motivate the students a lot to see that faculty at VCU are on the same page with faculty from across the country,” said Lloyd.

VCU students making a mark

The VCU students participating in the ABRCMS submitted abstracts that were judged by a panel of faculty experts. Eighteen of the abstracts were chosen for presentations including five oral presentations.

“This is a distinct honor – only 10 percent of submitted abstracts are chosen for oral presentations at this conference,” Barbour said. “For most of the students, this was their first presentation at a national meeting.”

For rising senior, Tenchee Lama Tamang, 21, who has been studying biology at VCU, the conference is one that she will not soon forget – she received an award during the conference’s closing banquet for her outstanding poster presentation in immunology.

Tamang has been working in the lab of John Ryan, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Biology, examining mechanisms and interactions of mast cells, which are known to play a central role in asthma and allergy.

“I was very honored to represent VCU and Dr. Ryan’s lab at such a large conference among all those universities that were present there,” said Tamang, a participant of the VCU Minority Access to Research Careers program, or MARC.

“I felt very proud of myself, honored to represent VCU and Dr. Ryan’s lab, and felt lots of gratitude towards my mentors, my advisors, the MARC program and VCU,” she said.

She credits the patience, guidance, and encouragement of her mentors, including Ryan, Barbour and Nicholas Pullen, a post-doctoral candidate in the Department of Biology, and participation in the MARC program for her success as an undergraduate researcher.

Pullen is a trainee in another VCU training program called the Institutional Research and Career Development Award, or IRACDA, that provides training in both research and pedagogy for postdoctorals. In spring 2012, Pullen will participate in a teaching externship at Elizabeth City State University, one of three partner Minority Serving Institutions involved in the VCU IRACDA program.

Tamang will graduate from VCU in the spring and plans to apply to a M.D./Ph.D. program. She hopes to continue to study immunology and has a great interest in connecting bench research to the patient’s bedside.

Networking and more

In addition to the research presentations, the conference offered a variety of career development opportunities, including an exhibition of graduate and professional school programs from throughout the country and career development workshops and panels. The conference also featured keynote addresses by noted scientists and role models in a variety of disciplines.

Sarah E. Golding, Ph.D., associate director of undergraduate research training in the VCU Center on Health Disparities, attended the conference with her students and said a highlight for her was watching as her students discovered a part of themselves they had been searching for.

“During the conference these bright, talented individuals saw the value of their work ... I got text messages throughout the days saying “Dr. G, I just got recruited by Baylor!” Or “Dr. G, a professor from Harvard gave me her phone number and told me to call her, anytime!” said Golding, who is an instructor and director of undergraduate research in the VCU Department of Biology.

“Before this many of them would never have considered applying out of there comfort zone. Now there is no question that many will and I suspect many will succeed,” she said.

“My only disappointment is that we can’t take more!”

See a full list of VCU participants and their projects here.