Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program
Dr. Mark Schmitt, Director
The State University of New York Upstate Medical University, College of Graduate Studies is offering fellowships for its 2010 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Program. The aim of the SURF program is to expose undergraduate students to biomedical research. In an intensive ten-week summer program, undergraduates with appropriate faculty help will formulate their own proposal, carry out research under the supervision of one of our faculty, write a research paper and have the opportunity to see their work published. In the process, students will attend research seminars and participate in discussions on alternative careers in research and how to apply to graduate school. Students are given ample opportunities to interact directly with many of our faculty and graduate students.
The program will be held from Monday, June 7, 2010 through Friday, August 13, 2010.
Each fellow will be provided a $3,000 stipend for the period plus housing in Clark Tower, our residence hall.
Applicants to the program should be undergraduate students in good academic standing, who will be between their junior and senior years during the summer of 2010, and are majors in chemistry, biology, or a related field. Applicants must have a strong interest in pursuing a Ph.D. degree in biomedical investigative research.
The main criteria for the selection of fellows will be scholarship and the match of applicant interests with those of participating SUNY Upstate Medical University biomedical faculty members.
Application
Application Forms can be downloaded:
In addition to the completed application form, please submit the following documentation:
- A personal statement of your academic goals and career objectives.
- An official transcript of your undergraduate study to date.
- Two letters of recommendation. These may be requested from professors related to your major, an advisor, and/or department chair.
Mail application and supplemental documents to:
SUNY Upstate Medical University
College of Graduate Studies
Room 3122, Weiskoktten Hall
750 East Adams Street
Syracuse, NY 13210
315 464-4538
Email: biosci@upstate.edu
Deadline for Applications: February 15, 2010
Summer Undergraduate Research
Fellowship (SURF) Mentors
- Jeffrey Amack: Genetics and cell biology of organ morphogenesis in the zebrafish embryo.
- Dr. David Amberg: Genomics level analysis of actin function.
- Dr. Edward A. Berry:Structural and functional studies of respiratory chain enzymes.
- Dr. Xin Jie Chen: Mitochondria biology and aging-related degenerative diseases.
- Dr. Thomas Duncan: The bacterial ATP synthase: structure, regulation, and potential as a target for antibiotics.
- Dr. Jerrie Gavalchin: Modulation of immune responses after exposure to metals.
- Dr. Stephen J. Glatt: Performs candidate gene and genome-wide association, linkage, and functional studies of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, and heroin and other substance use disorders.
- Dr. Huaiyu Hu: Molecular studies of brain malformations and congenital muscular dystrophies.
- Dr. William Kerr: The role of inositol phospholipid signaling in stem cells or immune cells. Opportunity for cross-disciplinary research that merges chemistry, biochemistry and in vivo biology.
- Dr. Mira Krendel: Analysis of the role of myosins (actin-dependent motor proteins) in membrane trafficking, cell motility, and cell adhesion. Myosins and kidney disease.
- Dr. Stewart Loh: Protein engineering: design of molecular switches and biosensors
- Dr. Paul Massa: Genetics of virus-induced immunopathogenesis.
- Dr. David Mitchell: Molecular and genetic analysis of the assembly and function of motile cilia.
- Dr. Sandra Mooney: Exposure to ethanol alters brain development and behavior.
- Dr. Andras Perl: Molecular genetics of autoimmunity and cancer.
- Dr. Francesca Pignoni: Genetic control of eye development, stem cell maintenance.
- Dr. Dawn Post: Cancer therapy using dual oncolytic and gene-therapy delivery viruses.
- Dr. David Pruyne: Through the microscopic, genetic and molecular techniques, we probe the mechanisms of how cells spatially organize themselves using their cytoskeleton.
- Dr. Mark Schmitt: Genetics of RNase MRP.
- Dr. Vladimir Sirotkin: Biochemical analysis and live cell imaging of Arp2/3 complex-dependent actin assembly during endocytosis.
- Dr. Daniel Ts'o: Neural mechanisms of visual processing, employing electrophysiological, anatomical, computational and functional imaging methodologies.
- Dr. Andrea Viczian: Retinal stem cell differentiation into retinal cells capable of vision repair.
- Dr. Stephan Wilkens: Structure and dynamics of membrane bound transport ATPases by cryo electron microscopy, solution NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry.
- Dr. Steven L. Youngentob: Mechanisms of fetal programming underlying the relationship between fetal ethanol exposure and adolescent alcohol abuse.
- Dr. Michael Zuber: Molecular and cellular characterization of retinal stem cell and eye formation.
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What's the
SUNY Upstate difference?
As an undergraduate student at Mt. St. Mary's College, Jeanine Pignatelli was accepted to Upstate's SURF summer program before her senior year.
When she was in the SURF program, she got to work with microscopes that were worth $500,000 to $750,000. "Who gets the opportunity to do that?" Pignatelli said. "Not many people!."
She found that she liked research—and SUNY Upstate—so much that she applied nowhere else.
During her first year in the PhD program, when all students spend 10-week rotations in three different labs, Pignatelli found her niche. She rotated in Biochemistry and in Christopher Turner's lab in Cell and Developmental Biology, and decided on Turner's lab.
Pignatelli has won a $25,000 National Cancer Center grant for her work with cell adhesion proteins in tumors.
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