On July 16-17 the Health Career Opportunities Programs (HCOP) of UConn Health hosted a two-day research symposium for high school and college students from across Connecticut’s towns who participated in its annual Summer Enrichment Programs.
Each student conducted either innovative basic science or clinical health disparities research this summer at UConn Health and presented their research findings to their peers and the UConn community.
“It’s fantastic,” says the longtime leader and founder of HCOP, Dr. Marja Hurley, about the breadth of research presented by the state’s talented youth interested in health science careers and about the high turnout of attendees from the UConn Health community to applaud the students’ efforts.
College Researchers
Kayla Tomasik, 19, of Danbury is a rising junior attending Binghamton University in upstate New York. She had the exciting opportunity to conduct summer research at UConn School of Medicine to advance kidney health scientific knowledge with the Chief of Nephrology at UConn Health, Dr. Yanlin Wang, along with Melanie Tran Ph.D.
“Kayla has indeed done a fantastic job,” applauds her summer research mentor Wang.
Tomasik’s novel research investigation this summer in Wang’s Lab focused on exploring how the enzyme USP22, that plays an important role in regulating gene expression and cell cycle progression, also plays a role in cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury. Cisplatin is a widely used and highly effective platinum-based chemotherapy drug but one-third of cancer patients taking it can experience acute kidney injury. Her research identified the enzyme USP22 as a potential therapeutic target for preventing cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury.
“Working in Dr. Yanlin Wang’s Lab was an incomparable experience,” says Tomasik. “The inspiring energy and cutting-edge environment allowed me to collaborate alongside some of the brightest scientific minds. I am especially grateful to my instructor, Dr. Melanie Tran, whose exceptional mentorship and guidance through real-world scientific inquiry completely transformed how I view medicine. Having the opportunity to stand before the community and share everything I’ve learned and discovered felt like a massive milestone in my education!”
She adds, “Participating in the HCOP program this summer was an incredibly eye-opening and transformative experience! I chose to get involved because I was striving to gain hands-on experience with translational research and deepen my understanding of the medical world. The opportunities this program offers are truly unmatched; they don’t just teach you science, but actively show you exactly what it takes to succeed and make a lasting impact in healthcare.”
What’s next for Tomasik after her UConn summer research experience?
“This experience has completely solidified my passion for the health sciences! Moving forward, I am so excited to take the research skills I have developed this summer and apply them to my upcoming academic endeavors at Binghamton University.”
Local Legislator Shows Support of Students
“It’s great,” shared Connecticut State Representative from the 138th district, Kenneth Gucker, who represents Danbury about the research symposium after engaging with the college students and learning about their summer research project posters. “This is valuable work, that all legislators should know about,” said Gucker with the wide range of research project topics spanning from diabetes to cancer prevention, “to be able to help with that through awareness and based on true, scientific evidence.”
“I am so glad I came up to see Kayla’s project and thought it to be amazing. But what I am most grateful for was that I was exposed to all the great projects presented. It fills me with hope and encouragement to see these bright young people doing such meaningful work and gives me great hope for the future,” concluded Gucker.
Another college student is UConn Storrs undergraduate in the Class of 2027, Yusur Al Lami, 21, of West Hartford. She had the exciting opportunity to conduct research in Hurley’s lab on skeletal muscle impairment in humanized sickle cell disease mouse models.
The research findings data showed that a blocking antibody to the hormone Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 (FGF23) rescues the abnormality in the skeletal muscle of these mice.
Al Lami excitedly and proudly presented her research poster outside the Academic Rotunda on July 16.
“I’m really excited to share the research I’ve been working on with the UConn Health community. A lot of time, effort, and learning went into this project, so being able to present it feels rewarding. It’s also a chance to share work that could eventually help improve the lives of people living with sickle cell disease, which makes it even more meaningful,” says Al Lami.
“My project focused on skeletal muscle in a mouse model of sickle cell disease. We studied what happens when FGF23, a protein involved in inflammation, is blocked. We found that blocking FGF23 improved muscle health by reducing fibrosis and increasing muscle fiber size,” Al Lami shared. “This is important because many people with sickle cell disease experience muscle weakness, chronic pain, and difficulty with everyday physical activities. While these complications are common, they haven’t been studied as much as other aspects of the disease. I hope our research helps bring more attention to this area and contributes to finding better treatments in the future.”
She chose to do HCOP’s summer research program to gain more hands-on research experience and learn more about what a career in medicine and research might look like.
“This HCOP experience was honestly one of the best experiences I’ve had in college. I learned so much in such a short amount of time, not just about research, but also about myself. I became more confident in the lab, learned new techniques, and had the chance to work alongside amazing mentors and students who genuinely wanted to see each other succeed. Dr. Hurley has created an environment where students are challenged, supported, and given opportunities that many undergraduates don’t get. I’m incredibly grateful for everything I’ve learned this summer, and it made me feel even more certain that UConn is where I’m meant to be,” she says.
Hurley couldn’t be prouder of her research mentee’s project and success.
“She’s done beautiful work, it’s just great!”
Al Lami is now studying for the MCAT exam as she is getting ready to apply to medical school.
“Becoming a physician has been my dream for a long time, and this experience has only strengthened that goal. I hope to continue doing research throughout my career while caring for patients, because I believe both go hand in hand. I’m excited to see where this journey takes me, and I’m looking forward to continuing to learn and grow along the way.”
Aleck McNeil, 19, of South Windsor, enjoys attending UConn Storrs as an undergrad sophomore too.
“I started HCOP in high school and I was hooked,” he says. He’s been inspired to be a pre-med student at UConn and looks forward to becoming a doctor someday.
His health disparities clinical summer research fellowship program project focused on the importance of integrating community health workers into provider-based type 2 diabetes interventions over the long-term. His research mentor was Jaime S. Foster, Ph.D., RD.
“Short-term protocols don’t work,” he says as his research has found how it’s important to know your patient audience you are caring for and to plan for long-term interventional programming of 6 months or more leveraging electronic medical records tracking and access, group and online home-based classes, and regular patient contact and online interactions to help best keep patients engaged to help improve their type 2 diabetes more significantly.
Jose Luis Matute Galvez, 22, of Mansfield, who immigrated to the U.S. from Peru when he was just 8, is a double-Husky. He just graduated from UConn Storrs and is starting UConn School of Dental Medicine this August.
“I’m really excited!” says Galvez, “HCOP really makes UConn School of Dental Medicine feel like home already, and the opportunity to present my research like this that I want to do over the next 4 years of dental school, I am really appreciative for.”
His supportive research mentors for his basic science summer research project were Mejeong Lee, Ph.D. and Peter Maye, Ph.D. for his research focusing on building a MERFISH-based spatial atlas of the developing craniofacial skeleton.
“It’s all about building a map of how genes and cells communicate in maxillofacial bone,” Galvez said.
High School Researchers
On Friday, July 17 high school students who conducted summer research had their time to shine after participating in the High School Student Research Apprentice Program of HCOP.
Abraham Olasunkanmi, 17, is going to be a senior at Sports & Medical Sciences Academy in Hartford where he first learned about the HCOP program opportunities at UConn Health.
He had the opportunity last summer to shadow doctors and researchers at UConn Health. Now this summer, his hands-on research experience at UConn School of Medicine was with faculty mentor Michael Blinov, Ph.D. in the Center of Cell Analysis and Modeling for creating a database of mathematical models of biological systems.
“This summer experience has been the best, and really exciting!” he says. “My project was very different, and was for coding and designing websites for scientific models ranging from infections to small molecules.”
Olasunkanmi hopes to be accepted and attend UConn after graduating high school.
Carey-Lee Jibbson, 17, is a senior at Achievement First Hartford High School.
“Working in the lab gave me a glimpse of my future,” she says after her experience with researchers Michael Davis, Ph.D. and Jennifer Medina, MS to explore the beneficial use of bacteriophage to reduce Bacillus pseudomycoides from soil samples. “These experiments really do matter to me.”
She dreams of being accepted to attend Barnard College and becoming a pediatric nurse someday.
Jibbson concluded, “To everyone who made this possible, thank you! I learned courage and resilience.”
Congratulations to all the student summer researchers and presenters in both the Summer Research Fellowship Program and the Health Disparities Clinical Summer Research Fellowship Program.
