Rutgers Camden MARC program sends 21 biology students to national conference!

Posted on by Nathan Fried

Usually, the MARC program only has enough funding to send its 8 fellows to the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS). However, this year was different. With the conference transitioning to a virtual format, we had the opportunity to recruit more students to join us for the conference.

In total, we recruited 21 biology students who were conducting research in faculty labs on campus to present their work in poster format. Ranging from neurodegenerative disease models in Drosophila to computational biology in cancer genetics, we were excited to showcase the fantastic work being conducted by Rutgers Camden undergraduates while expanding our research network and opening this opportunity to a large cohort of students.

Taqdees Gohar wins poster award at ABRCMS!

Posted on by Nathan Fried

Taqdees Gohar is a junior at Rutgers University–Camden majoring in Biology and a MARC Fellow. She is an aspiring physician-scientist interested in neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, she is working in Dr. Elizabeth West’s lab at Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine where she studies the effect of Alzheimer’s disease on working memory. She is the first in her family to be pursuing a degree in science.

Taqdees received a best poster award from the national Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), for her research project, “Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Fish Oil Improve Learning and Memory in Drosophila melanogaster.” The work for this project took place in the course “Principles and Practices of Biological Research.”

Fellow 2020 Summer Research Plans Announced!

Posted on by Nathan Fried

Congrats to the inaugural MARC cohort’s success getting into research programs across the country for the summer of 2020! Navigating the complexities of COVID, our MARC fellows successfully landed summer research positions that were primarily virtual. In the MARC program, we mentor undergraduates through their applications to competitive summer research programs where they participate in a 10-week full-time summer research experience at a University of their choice. Below is where our first cohort is spending their summer.

Shariq Khan was accepted into the Summer Undergraduate Internship Program where he will conduct research in the lab of Dr. James Shorter at the University of Pennsylvania.

Anna Liang was accepted into the Summer Undergraduate Internship Program where she will conduct research in the lab of Dr. Wei Tong at the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania.

Harjit Kaira received the prestigious Dean’s Undergraduate Research Prize to fund her research in the lab of Dr. Kwangwon Lee at Rutgers Camden.

William Myers was accepted into the Summer Research Opportunity Program where he will conduct research in the lab of Dr. Peter Freddolino at the University of Michigan.