SURP 1993 Participant: Dr. Trista Brown

Since participating in the Summer undergraduate research program at the UMass Chan Medical School I have proceeded on as a graduate medical school followed by residency training at Northwestern University medical center in the field physical medicine and rehabilitation. I now maintain a position in the department of orthopedics and physical medicine at UMass Memorial Medical Center.

My experience with the summer undergraduate research program through was an excellent learning opportunity and allowed me to gain experience in an academic research setting.  I had wonderful mentors through the program who provided great support which propelled my career in medicine. I am so grateful for this opportunity. 

SURP 2003 Participant: Dr. Zaida G. Ramirez-Ortiz

In the summer of 2003, I was part of an NIH Summer Undergraduate Research (SUPR) Fellow at the UMass Chan Medical School. It was during this internship that my interests in infectious disease began to develop and prompted my decision to pursue a PhD in this field, which I completed the Morningside Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UMass Chan.  As a PhD candidate, I joined the fungal immunology laboratory of Dr. Stuart Levitz, MD and started to seriously pursue my interests in immunology and infectious disease research. In 2011, I joined the Department of Medicine (Rheumatology) at Massachusetts General Hospital under the mentorship of Dr. Terry Means. In 2019, I joined UMass Chan as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine where I study the role of scavenger receptors in the development of autoimmunity, specifically systemic lupus erythematosus. The support provided by the SURP during the internship and through the remainder of my career gave me to confidence to pursue a career in academiaBeing back at UMass Chan, I hope I can pay if forward for the next generation of minority students, the same way Dr. Harmon-Hines and Dr. Lewis did it for me.

SURP 2010 Participant: Dr. Alejandro D. Arroyo

I joined the summer program for the summer of 2010, during my junior year at the University of Puerto Rico – Río Piedras. During my summer at UMass Chan Medical School, I worked with Dr. Milagros Rosal developing an informative booklet for healthy weight gain during pregnancy. I graduated from UPR-RP in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry.

In the same year, I started pursuing a PhD degree in Pharmacology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Under the guidance of Dr. Jim Delikatny, I pursued a project focused on the development of Cerenkov imaging probes for the study of cancer metabolism in vivo.

SURP 2010 Participant: Asia Matthew-Onabanjo

UMass Chan Medical School
MD/PhD Candidate Class of 2021

The Summer Undergraduate Research Program was an invaluable experience that I’ll never forget. It was my introduction to how to properly conduct a research project and from it, my passion for research was ignited. I knew by the end of this program that I would be applying to MD/PhD programs. By participating fully, I was able to gain mentors who would be an integral part of my MD/PhD journey. In addition, I met some lifelong friends who have gone on to complete MD, PhD, and MD/PhD degrees. The SURP program really launched my career in medicine and research. I am forever grateful for this experience and will look back on it fondly as continue forward in my career.

SURP 2016 & 2017 Participant: Jake Carrasquillo Rodriguez

The University of Massachusetts Summer Research Program was an excellent opportunity for me to grow as a scientist. During my two summers at UMass Chan Medical School, I was able to work with some of the best scientists in their field of expertise, learn from them and expand my scientific knowledge to new heights. The environment at UMass Chan Medical School is great for an explorative researcher, the faculty are excellent, and the summer program directors have a great handle on how to make the summer research program one of the most informative/fun experiences ever. I really enjoyed my time at UMass Chan Medical School, it was lots of fun, met great colleagues that I contact to this day and performed research at the highest level.

Currently I’m a graduate student at Yale University. I study the relationship of specific nuclear envelope proteins with cellular lipid homeostasis.

SURP 2019 Participant: Tete “Brenda” Thomas

Worcester State University, Class of 2020
Currently employed at UMass Chan Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Pharmacology as a Research Lab Tech

The Summer Undergraduate Research Program not only shaped my perspective on research, but it helped me to see my potential in the field. I learned many tools and skills in the program in terms of articulating and presenting my research to any audience, advancing my critical thinking skills by analyzing and interpreting data, evaluating appropriate assays and methods to answer a scientific question. The program provided researchers, post-docs, and graduate students from various scientific backgrounds to network with and explore a wide range of research opportunities. Overall, the program helped to strengthen my experience in the research field.

SURP 2020 Participant: Andrea Pineda

The University of Texas at El Paso 12/2020

I could not have expected to learn as much as I did during the short, but valuable two-week virtual SURP experience. I was inspired by the faculty who took the time to share with us their exciting research projects and unique journeys in science. The directors managed to design activities that challenged us to think critically about science and formulate our own questions, helping us learn remote team working skills. I was most appreciative of the opportunity to network with scientists at various stages of their career, all sharing the same excitement for research, who introduced me to the holistic values held by the scientific community at UMass Chan.