Two faculty members from the College of Public Health (COPH) mentored students in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Dr. Joseph Forver and Dr. Catherine Pratt. I mentored students participating in SURP. This program provides an opportunity for undergraduates to join research teams and gain first-hand experience of the wide range of research activities taking place at UNMC.

Pratt is Gabriel (Gabby) Estep, a student at Northwest State University in Missouri, majoring in biochemistry-focused science, and a student at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, majoring in molecular biology and biomedical biology, majoring in medical science. I mentored Mohammad Salimi, a minor in Humanities and Chemistry.

Gaby’s research focused on collecting and testing samples from wastewater treatment plants in Nebraska to see if various viruses were present.

“I love environmental chemistry, so the wastewater project piqued my interest. I think it’s interesting to combine the chemistry of things with the biological,” Gaby said.

Mohammad tested four different nucleic acid extraction kits over the summer to see how they performed in different settings.

“I had a tube with a mixture of viruses and I was extracting the virus. and how they each have different conditions and rules,” said Mohammad.

Pratt said both Gabby and Mohammad have done a great job this summer.

“I loved having them in the lab. They fit right into the team. It was great to have new personalities with so many questions,” she said.

“I am really happy to see my students grow. It is very satisfying to see them go from minimal experience in the lab at the beginning to managing their own day-to-day tasks. It’s going.”

One project didn’t get off to a great start, but Dr. Pratt said it was a great learning experience.

“On one project, I had a lot of failures right from the start (because of the method, not the students!) because one of the most important things to learn in the lab is to fail. It was a success and we got some very interesting data.”

Fauver mentored Ethan Sajko, a student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, majoring in sociology, minors in biology, mathematics, and psychology.

Ethan’s research focused on sequencing the genetic information of the bourbon virus found in ticks.

“We also used that genetic information to create an evolutionary tree and a pipeline to track how the bourbon virus mutated in ticks,” said Ethan.

Ethan says his research is similar to how variants and different strains are tracked in COVID-19.

“I was excited about this topic because it allowed me to explore a technology called next-generation sequencing and genomic epidemiology. COVID has really made it popular. I think it will be very important for public health and epidemiology in the future. ”

Click here for more information on SURP.

If you’re considering joining SURP in the future, Pratt tells you to do so.

“It’s a great opportunity to gain research experience. Earn a summer income and find out what it’s really like to work in a research team. Maybe, but having that experience will help clarify if it’s the right career for you.”