On Friday, Norman High School graduate Farris Tedder finished eight weeks as a Sir Alexander Fleming Scholar at OMRF.
OMRF’s Fleming Scholars work side-by-side with senior medical researchers on an in-depth, individual research project. At the end of the summer, the students write scientific papers and present their research results in formal seminars for OMRF’s scientific staff.
Tedder, who will be a freshman at the University of Oklahoma in the fall, has spent the summer working with Jonathan Wren, Ph.D., in OMRF’s Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Research Program. In the lab, Tedder has studied salivary glands from the lip to find out how much fat they have inside them. She and her colleagues hope to learn whether glands with more fat occur in people with Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that causes dry mouth.
“The best part of this experience has been the exposure to the real dynamics of a lab environment,” said Tedder. “It’s been a challenge to learn how to navigate a linux computer and work with a new programming language, but I hope to continue working in a lab setting while at college and want to do my own research someday.”
Founded in 1956, the Fleming Scholar Program has provided advanced science training to more than 500 Oklahoma high school and college students. Named for Sir Alexander Fleming, the Nobel Prize-winning scientist who discovered penicillin and in 1949 dedicated OMRF’s first building, the one-of-a-kind program annually attracts up to 100 applicants. Two current OMRF scientists, Judith James, M.D., Ph.D., and Rodger McEver, M.D., started their research careers as Fleming Scholars.
For more information on the Fleming Scholar Program, visit: www.omrf.org/fleming.
