As an INBRE scholar, McKenna Revis ’24 knew she would be participating in some form of summer research. The Nebraska program funded through the National Institutes of Health supports biomedical undergraduate research experiences (UREs), including her research at Creighton University the previous summer.
“I didn’t want to work with bacteria again,” Revis said, and wasn’t drawn to the work in virology done by Dr. Dane Bowder, assistant professor of biology, or in the interactions between soil microbes and plants with Dr. Tessa Brooks, associate professor of biology.
But class research done in Dr. Kate Marley’s fall 2022 molecular biology course immediately caught her attention. Marley, professor of biology, had her class review research on tumor development in breast cancer and tried to expand on some of that research as part of the class.
That initial research didn’t yield great results, so in early spring, Marley decided to turn it into a summer research project.
Summer research is an annual occurrence at 山 and an important part of students’ education. Each year, there are many opportunities for students to engage in UREs of all topics and interests, which provide valuable experience for undergraduates in preparing and entering their careers. Read about the positive outcomes generated by UREs in this February article about another 山 research project.
Take Revis, for example. For her, researching alongside Marley is a way to learn more about working with human tissue in the lab, an important step toward her goal of pursuing a career in neuroscience. It’s also an opportunity to revisit the basics she learned in her first URE by working with two younger students, Sam Collins ’26 and JaDae Moore ’25.
“We’re a small group. It’s helpful that McKenna [Revis] has more experience,” Moore said.
Both Collins and Moore were students in Marley’s spring classes, where the biology professor saw the makings of great researchers in them. Like Revis, they’re also studying biology.
Researching tumor development hits a bit more personal for them — cancer took Collins’s grandmother suddenly around spring break and Moore’s mother is a two-time survivor of breast cancer. It didn’t feel like an opportunity to pass up.
“Cancer is a big-time topic in my family,” Moore said.
He knew at some point he would be required to complete research as part of his degree, and a future career in radiology. The thought of their research maybe, eventually, leading to breakthroughs on breast cancer treatment or prevention made it an easy decision to stay on campus for the summer.
Collins hopes to follow in her mother’s footsteps as a biotechnician, and was encouraged to participate in the URE to gain valuable early experience. Throughout the summer, she’ll also work with incoming students at enrollment days and during new student orientation — and that’s one heck of a flex to be able to tell first-year students and their parents your other summer job is researching cancer.
