August 6, 2009
The Amgen Scholars Program: Encouraging a new generation of biomedical researchers
A chance encounter with a funny-looking rock when he was 8 years old helped launch Phillip Poonka’s lifelong interest in research. Now a junior at the UW and a student in the highly selective Amgen Scholars Program, Poonka is on a trajectory that is likely to culminate in graduate school and a career in biomedical research.
“It was lying in my street among some small chips of asphalt,” he explained. “I came to the conclusion that it was a meteorite based on the impact it left on the asphalt, its charred appearance, and its dense metallic feel. My mom did not find the rock very interesting and almost threw it away when cleaning the house, but I was inspired to learn more about these rare extraterrestrial objects and I later made some simple experiments to support my find.”
And so a career began. He participated in science fairs in elementary and middle schools, garnering top honors. He spent time conducting his own experiments. At the UW, he has been conducting research in the Department of Radiology since his sophomore year. This summer, as an Amgen scholar, he gets to devote all his time to research, as the program provides support for room and board and also pays a stipend. He also works closely with faculty mentors.
The goal of the Amgen program is to grow the next generation of biomedical researchers. The program’s philosophy is that the best way to achieve this is to take the very best students (about one in 10 is selected from a national pool for the UW program), immerse them in the laboratory of a top-flight researcher who provides them not just a research experience but becomes a mentor, and have them present their research findings to their peers at a national meeting and local sessions as well.
The UW program is one of 10 funded by Amgen in the U.S. This year the program received 270 applications from across the country for 29 slots. “Some of the students are new to research, while others are more experienced,” says Jennifer Harris, associate director of the UW’s Undergraduate Research Program, which administers Amgen Scholars. “We recruit the faculty mentors first. With busy schedules and competing demands on their time, faculty mentors do this because they believe it’s the right thing to do. They want to foster new talent in their fields. The faculty are doing this without compensation, so it’s always a challenge.”
Students apply and list their top three choices from among the list of faculty projects. There is some preliminary screening by program staff, but the ultimate matches are made by the faculty.
Besides their research, students also attend seminars and tours that expose them to the choices they will have as researchers — the security of academia versus the product-driven focus of private industry.
Poonka is spending his summer studying heart muscle sciences in the Heart and Muscle Mechanics Lab of Michael Regnier, associate professor of bioengineering. Poonka actually has two mentors, Regnier and Steven Korte, a postdoctoral fellow. “The scientists and graduate students who work in the lab are very supportive and I feel comfortable asking them questions,” Poonka says.
“I’m a strong believer in mentoring,” Regnier says. “We have students in our lab at all stages. We have some undergraduates who have been working in the lab for two or three years. The challenge with Amgen scholars is their time is limited to the summer. We pair them with graduate students or postdocs, where they are exposed to different aspects of the project and get to assist on experiments. We talk with them about the purpose of experiments and they actually take some measurements. Then we care out some semi-independent experiments for them. They realize that they are playing an important role in our overall research goals. They may have a small piece of the puzzle, but they own that piece. Our goal is that they leave the lab excited about science.”
Regnier is a mentoring advocate because it’s his way of giving back. “I was provided research opportunities because someone gave me a chance. I get a kick out of seeing the light go on in a student’s head, watching them grow and become independent people.” Regnier takes the extra step of not just talking about science but also discussing career choices and what steps his students need to take to be well prepared for future opportunities.
Rocky Eastman, a first-generation college student from Walla Walla and now a UW senior, is working on research at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, where he already has co-authored two research manuscripts that will be published shortly. This summer, he’s working in the field of tissue engineering, where the ultimate goal is to build tissue and organs in the lab to eliminate the need for transplants. “It’s very exciting to be a part of this growing field,” he says, “and I would not have anticipated that my undergraduate studies would have led to this.” Ultimately, he’d like to have a career in pediatric oncology.
Rita Sodt was so motivated in her desire to experience research first-hand that she contacted a researcher early in her freshman year at the UW. She learned about Kristin Swanson, research associate professor of pathology, from the TA in her honors calculus class and took the initiative to arrange an interview, securing a place in the lab by Winter Quarter. Sodt, now a senior, has studied the development of mathematical models that simulate the growth of gliomas, a highly invasive type of brain tumor. She is spending her summer working full-time in Swanson’s lab.
“I am very lucky to have Kristin as a mentor,” Sodt says. “She has trusted me with interesting and challenging projects, which has given me confidence in my research abilities and has taught me valuable research skills that I would not learn in the classroom. She has been a wonderful mentor because she helped me learn to work independently and to think critically about our research.”
Eric Evangelista, a senior who transferred to the UW from Everett Community College, is having his first laboratory experience this summer. “The best part about working in the lab has been the trial and error aspect,” he says. “Things just don’t work sometimes but it’s been fun trying to figure out why. And it’s definitely a plus that it’s giving me an opportunity to apply some of what I’ve learned in class to some “real world” situations.”
Evangelista, a senior majoring in chemistry, was born in the Philippines, moved to Canada when he was 8 and arrived in Washington at age 18. He had thought that his future would be as an MD, but exposure to peers who are research oriented has had an impact. “Seeing how motivated they are in their pursuits has definitely raised my interest in a career in the lab,” he says. “The Amgen program has also helped in this area by providing an opportunity to see what it would be like to do research with potentially far-reaching consequences.”
The Amgen Scholars will be giving poster presentations of their research from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday, Aug. 19, in Mary Gates Commons. They will be giving oral presentations in concurrent sessions from 2:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, in Mary Gates Hall, rooms 248, 254, 284 and 288. More information will be available here.
