U-M, Perrigo Name 2006 Undergraduate Research Fellows
June 13, 2006
ANN ARBOR, Mich.---The Life Sciences Institute (LSI) of the University of Michigan and the Perrigo Company, a pharmaceutical and nutritional products manufacturer based in Allegan, Michigan, have awarded summer fellowships to eight undergraduate students from the University of Michigan, Kalamazoo College, and Knox College.
The awards were made under the Perrigo Undergraduate Fellowship Program, a summer internship series at the LSI for undergraduate science students. The program is supported by the Perrigo Company, the LSI, and the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
Each student will be assigned to a laboratory in the Life Sciences Institute for hands-on experience with world-class researchers and will be considered for internships with Perrigo in the future. Fellows receive a stipend plus a housing and travel allowance for 10 weeks over the summer. Most applicants are undergraduate students in chemistry, biology, biochemistry, pharmacy, or engineering and related fields. To qualify, the students must be enrolled in a college or university.
"This group of student scientists holds incredible promise, and both Perrigo and the LSI are fortunate to be able to work with them," said LSI research professor Daniel J. Klionsky, who directs the Perrigo internship program. "Side-by-side work at the research bench or other hands-on experiences are the best ways for people to learn, and the faculty members in the LSI are dedicated to providing a positive learning experience to undergraduates in Michigan. Furthermore, exposure to collaborative laboratory work by top scientists, the trademark of the Life Sciences Institute, will provide a unique experience that will help these students in their future career goals."
The 2006 Perrigo/LSI Fellows are :
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Andrew Harrison, a rising junior at U-M from Houghton, MI, is a neuroscience major. His project in the Rudenko lab is to over-express a protein in insect cell cultures and analyze its structural shape. The protein of interest is the human corticotropin-releasing hormone binding protein (hCRHBP) that controls cortisol levels in the body. Elevated cortisol is found in some depressive and anxiety disorders. |
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Andrew Prendergast is a senior at Knox College from Chicago, IL. He will work in the Center for Stem Cell Biology, headed by Sean Morrison, studying the mechanism by which a certain population of neural crest stem cells migrates to its final destination in the terminal large intestine. The medical condition Hirschsprung disease occurs when this migration fails and the terminal colon is not ennervated. |
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Derek Peters is a rising senior at U-M from Pittsford, NY, who is concentrating in Cellular and Molecular Biology with a minor in mathematics. This summer, Derek is working in the laboratory of Dr. Patrick Hu studying the regulation of several newly identified genes in the insulin-like signaling pathway of the nematode worm C. elegans. Malfunctions in this pathway may contribute to cancer and diabetes. |
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Shari Rosen is a rising junior at U-M from Farmington Hills, MI. She was recently accepted to and will be attending the U-M College of Pharmacy this fall. She is interested in biochemistry and genetics and is considering an eventual career in pharmaceutical research. This summer, she will be working in David Sherman's lab studying the natural chemistry that produces the protein 5-aminolevulinate. |
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Malorie Sprunger, from Saline, Michigan, is a rising sophomore at U-M studying biology and planning to pursue a career in pharmacy. This summer she is working in Janet Smith's lab investigating the three-dimensional structures of proteins. |
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Jenny Thomson is a senior at Kalamazoo College from Novi, MI. She is interested in medicinal chemistry and plans to start graduate school in 2007, eventually working in academia or government in the pharmaceutical sciences. She will be working in Dr. Ginsburg's lab with Dr. Karl Desch, studying the protein ADAMTS13, an integral protein in the study of thrombic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP). |
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Lauren Waltersdorf is a rising senior at Kalamazoo College from Rochester Hills, Michigan. She is majoring in biology with a Spanish minor. She is interested in biochemistry and biophysics and is applying for medical school for the fall of 2007. This summer, she will be working in Dr. Rowena Matthew's lab studying the role of potassium in the enzyme methionine synthase. |
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Nick White is a rising junior at Kalamazoo College from Canton, Michigan. He will be spending the first six months of his junior year studying abroad in Cáceres, Spain. He is a chemistry major and will be working in Jason Gestwicki's lab synthesizing organic compounds that activate chaperone proteins. |
