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 2013 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, present their work, 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 10, 2013 through Friday, August 16, 2013.

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 2013, and are majors in chemistry, biology, or a related field. Applicants must have a strong interest in pursuing a Ph.D. degree in biomedical 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. U.S. Citizenship is not a requirement of the program.

Application

In addition to the completed application form including a personal statement of your academic goals and career objectives, please submit the following documentation:

• 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 supplemental documents to:
SUNY Upstate Medical University
College of Graduate Studies
SURF Program
Room 3122, Weiskoktten Hall
766 Irving Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13210
315 464-4538
FAX: 315-464-4544
Email: biosci@upstate.edu

Deadline for Applications: February 15, 2013

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Mentors

• Dr. Jeffrey Amack: Genetics and cell biology of organ morphogenesis during embryonic development.
• Dr. Scott Blystone: We study the adhesion-dependent control of the actin cytoskeleton during macrophage inflammatory migration, with particular focus on the formin family of actin nucleating proteins, using primary and immortalized cell culture and a transgenic murine model.
• Dr. Michael Cosgrove: Structural biochemistry of protein complexes involved in the epigenetic regulation of chromatin.
• Dr. Wenyi Feng: Chromosomal DNA replication and genomic instability
• Dr. Steven Glatt: The mission of the PsychGENe Lab is to develop methods and conduct research in the pursuit of risk factors and biomarkers for severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, substance use disorders, PTSD, ADHD, and autism.
• Dr. Huaiyu Hu: Mechanisms of brain malformations and gene therapeutic approaches in congenital muscular dystrophies.
• Dr. Patricia Kane: Genetics, genomics, and biochemistry of cellular pH regulation.
• Dr. Wendy Kates: Investigates neurodevelopment in children with genetic disorders, through the quantitative analysis of anatomic and functional MRI.
• 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: Design of protein-based molecular switches for biology, biotechnology, and medicine
• Dr. Hong Lu: Role of nuclear receptors and epigenetics in regulating gene expression during liver development and carcinogenesis.
• Dr. Russell Matthews: My lab studies the molecules and mechanisms that regulate plasticity in the normal and diseased brain.
• Dr. Frank Middleton: The molecular and neurobiological basis of brain dysfunction in schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, and alcoholism using next-generation DNA and RNA sequencing approaches.
• Dr. Golam Mohi: Stem cell biology, cell signaling, hematopoiesis and blood cancer.
• 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. Stephan Wilkens: Structure and Mechanism of Membrane Bound Transport ATPases by Cryo Electron Microscopy, Solution NMR Spectroscopy and X-ray Crystallography.
• Dr. Gary Winslow: Host immune response to bacterial pathogens.
• Dr. Yunlei Yang: Optogenetic and Chemical-genetic Dissection and Manipulation of the Neural Circuits Controlling Food Intake
• Dr. Steven Youngentob: The lab's interests are focused on understanding the mechanisms underlying the relationship between fetal ethanol or fetal nicotine exposure and its contribution to adolescent and adult abuse of the drugs.
• Dr. Michael Zuber: We investigate the genetic networks driving early eye formation as well as the mechanism responsible for retinal degenerations that lead to blindness.