WHEELING, WV, July 15, 2009 — Wheeling Jesuit University's biology lab is a busy place this summer as students work under the guidance of Dr. Robert Shurina.
The popular biology professor is proud of his summer interns who spend their days performing lab procedures that take a close look at serious topics like cancer, neurobiology and angiogenisis. He’s also pleased that recent Wheeling Jesuit graduate Tara Richards of Dillonvale, Ohio was hired as Research Technician for his lab, thanks to a grant from WV INBRE.
INBRE is part of the National Institute of Health Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Program, a consortium among selected institutions of higher education that works to enhance the capacity for educating and training their faculty and students in biomedical research.
(Left-to-right are Kaleigh Dami and Brittany Burkhart.)
Richards watches over the interns and make sure the lab procedures are properly carried out. Shurina refers to her as a “lab mother,” a role she seems happy to accept. She also performs her own testing and experiments that involve cancer studies.
For summer 2009, the undergraduate students working in the Wheeling Jesuit lab include: Talia Blankenship, junior biology/chemistry major from Williamson, W.Va.; Brittany Burkhart, junior biology major from Woodsfield, Ohio; and Kaleigh Dami, senior biology major from Wellsburg, W.Va.
The emphasis of the program is to attract students to careers in the biomedical sciences and to get undergrads to continue their careers in biomedical education, according to Shurina.
The Wheeling Jesuit students are an ambitious bunch and plan to enter fields like medicine and veterinary science. They realize the summer internship is valuable.
“This is interesting work and will help me in my classes this year,” said Burkhart, who is performing angiogenesis research to explore the formation of blood vessels. “I’m really happy to have the chance to work in professor Shurina’s lab this summer because it is sure to help me in my last two years of college and grad school.”
The student interns work daily from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., through July 31. Then they will present poster summations of their summer lab work to the statewide group of students, professors and administrators at Marshall University on July 31.
(Left-to-right below are Tara Richards and Talia Blankenship.)
Dr. Shurina formerly taught at Thomas Jefferson University Medical College in Philadelphia and knows the benefits of a lab internship. Summer jobs that involve research and lab work impress graduate school recruiters and make a student stand out from the competition, which is vital to those applying to medical school.
“This research opportunity is a real eye opener,” said Blankenship. “It’s going to help me in my job future for sure.”
Wheeling Jesuit has gained a reputation for developing excellent applicants to the research summer program, which also places summer interns at West Virginia University. This year Wheeling Jesuit senior biology major Elizabeth Pierson of North Olmsted, Ohio is at WVU as part of the program.
Pierson is one of 17 interns at WVU’s Health Sciences Center and eight interns at Marshall University who are working for nine weeks this summer performing biomedical research.
Shurina is happy that his students have this summer internship opportunity, both in his lab and in Morgantown. He knows that college students who stay involved over the summer have a real headstart in careers that are increasingly technical and demanding.
