The Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation will welcome the largest group of summer interns in the foundation’s 77-year history.
Chosen for internships were 15 Sir Alexander Fleming Scholars, nine Langston University Biomedical Research Scholars, and four John H. Saxon Service Academy Summer Research Program students.
“For most students, these internships provide their first experience of real-world biomedical research,” said Ashley Cheyney, Ph.D., OMRF’s assistant director of scientific training and outreach. “We hope to make it a summer they’ll never forget. We always look forward to the arrival of our Summer Scholars, because they inject a spirit of youthful excitement and curiosity into our labs.”
Summer scholars will work with the foundation’s scientists on research projects in areas including autoimmune disease, osteoarthritis, cancer and cardiovascular disease. At the end of the programs, which last up to eight weeks, the students will author scientific papers and deliver presentations to the foundation’s research staff.
All OMRF summer scholars are currently enrolled in college or will enroll this fall.
The Fleming program, founded in 1956, is named for the scientist who discovered penicillin and played a key role in OMRF’s founding; it is open to students from Oklahoma. The Langston program, now in its third year, is a partnership between OMRF, the Oklahoma City VA Medical Center and Langston University, Oklahoma’s only historically Black college or university.
The Saxon program provides internships for students at U.S. service academies. John Saxon III, M.D., a Muskogee physician and OMRF board member, established the program to honor his father, a West Point graduate who taught at the U.S. Air Force Academy and was a career Air Force pilot.
The 2024 Fleming Scholars are:
- Abby Bailey, Oklahoma City, Casady High School, Texas Christian University
- Landon Gibbins, Norman, Norman High School, University of Notre Dame
- Chance Krueger, Atoka, Atoka High School, East Central Oklahoma State University
- Eon Lim, Edmond, Oklahoma School of Science & Math, Rice University
- Shelly Lin, Manhattan, Kansas, Stillwater High School, college undecided
- Victoria Nwankwo, Oklahoma City, Putnam City North High School, University of Oklahoma
- Kelsey Roberts, Enid, Chisholm High School, Oklahoma State University
- Ria Sachdev, Edmond, Casady High School, University of Oklahoma
- Anoushka Sasikumar, Moore, Oklahoma School of Science & Math, University of Oklahoma
- Madison Shelton, Norman, Norman North High School, University of Oklahoma
- Meena Sheshadri, Norman, Oklahoma School of Science & Math, Emory University
- Maxwell Troilo, Tulsa, Booker T. Washington High School, Emory University
- Parinita Varshney, Oklahoma City, Classen School of Advanced Studies, University of Texas
- Lauren Vongthavaravat, Edmond, Deer Creek High School, University of Oklahoma
- Eric Wang, Stillwater, Stillwater High School, Oklahoma State University
Langston Scholars are:
- Zion Douglas, Midwest City, Paetow (Texas) High School
- Trendon Edwards, Fort Worth Texas, Fossil Ridge High School
- Amber Guy, Oklahoma City, Midwest City High School
- J’Taelii Heath, Oklahoma City, Harding Charter Preparatory School
- Akilah Masters, Oklahoma City, Epic Charter Schools
- Brieanna Owens, Nashville, Tennessee, Goodpasture High School
- Faith Porter, Houston, Texas, Hightower High School
- Amia Quinn, St. Louis, Missouri, Riverview Garden High School
- Patrick Sheffield, Dallas, Texas, W.T. White High School
Saxon Scholars are:
- Calvin Marcellus, New Brighton, Minnesota, U.S. Military Academy, West Point
- Josie Mazzeo, Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S. Naval Academy
- Yujin Shim, Pleasanton, California, U.S. Air Force Academy
- Chase Tabor, Frankfort, Illinois, U.S. Naval Academy
