On Friday, Putnam City High School graduate Jillian Schlecht 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.
Schlecht, a University of Tulsa senior, has focused her studies on the effects of a protein called mps1 in yeast cells with abnormal chromosome numbers. Cancer cells in humans have both elevated levels of mps1 and irregular chromosome numbers, said Schlecht, which makes the yeast a great model to use for studying this specific aspect of cancer.
Her mentor for the summer was Dean Dawson, Ph.D., in OMRF’s Cell Cycle and Cancer Biology Research Program.
“This summer has definitely changed my perspective on where I see my career going,” said Schlecht, who intends to become a fertility specialist. “I have absolutely fallen in love with research and am considering changing my degree plan from an M.D. alone to an M.D./Ph.D. degree.”
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.
