On Friday, Stillwater student Katie McDonald 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.
McDonald, a graduate of the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics, has worked this summer with Susannah Rankin, Ph.D., in OMRF’s Cell Cycle and Cancer Biology Research Program. In the lab, she has studied proteins that may be important in repairing DNA.
“It’s been a challenge to realize that experiments rarely go the way you want them to, and that you have to spend a lot of time troubleshooting,” McDonald said. “But working at OMRF has made me more excited about biology than ever, and I look forward to pursuing a career in a related field.”
McDonald will major in biochemistry at the University of Oklahoma in the fall.
“I have always been interested in the life sciences, but I haven’t decided which career path to follow,” she said. “I am interested in becoming a research scientist or a doctor. Ultimately, I’d like to make some kind of contribution to the medical field that will benefit people.”
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.
