Their peers may spend much of June, July and August sleeping late and lounging by the pool, But for a dozen of Oklahoma’s most talented high school and college science students, summer will mean donning lab coats and safety goggles in laboratories at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
OMRF today announced its 2007 class of Fleming Scholars. The 12 students, chosen from approximately 100 applicants statewide, will spend eight weeks this summer working side-by-side with senior scientists at OMRF in Oklahoma City.
“Eights weeks literally can change a life or, in this case, a dozen lives,” said OMRF President Stephen M. Prescott, M.D. “Topics that were once mind-boggling become comprehensible. Challenges are overcome, and friendships are forged.”
Since 1956, more than 400 gifted Oklahoma science students have taken advantage of this one-of-a-kind program to complete a medical research project in a real-world laboratory. More than 100 have gone on to become physicians and scientists, including three current members of OMRF’s scientific staff: Rodger McEver, M.D., Judith James, M.D., Ph.D., and Andrea Sestak, M.D., Ph.D.
For most, the program offers a first look at research outside a classroom and opens doors to a wide range of career options. Scholarships include housing and a $3,000 stipend.
The 2007 Fleming Scholars are:
David Auld, McAlester, Oklahoma Baptist University
Corey Coles, Oklahoma City, University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
Philip Cox, Oklahoma City, Southern Nazarene University
Rozalen Doolen, Ada, Ada High School
Cory Giles, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma Christian University
Kryston Griffin, Newkirk, Northern Oklahoma College
Michael Henderson, Dale, Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics
Katie Maurer, Enid, Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics
Jackson Turner, Oklahoma City, Putnam City West High School
Amanda Waters, Altus, University of Oklahoma
Kevin Winters, Jones, University of Oklahoma
Jordan Wulf, Oklahoma City, Putnam City North High School
More on the Fleming Scholar program is available at www.omrf.org/fleming.
About OMRF:
Chartered in 1946, OMRF (www.omrf.org) is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institute dedicated to understanding and developing more effective treatments for human disease. Its scientists focus on such critical research areas as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, lupus and cardiovascular disease. Discoveries at OMRF have given birth to a pair of FDA-approved drugs, and it is home to Oklahoma’s only member of the National Academy of Sciences.
