Three Edmond-area students recently obtained hands-on lab experience while interning at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
Eon Lim, Ria Sachdev and Lauren Vongthavaravat were among 16 Oklahoma students who completed OMRF’s Fleming Scholar Program.
Lim is an Edmond resident who graduated from the Oklahoma School of Science and Mathematics. The biosciences major is entering his sophomore year at Rice University and plans to attend medical school.
Working in the lab of OMRF scientist Wan Hee Yoon, Ph.D., Lim created genetic mutations in fruit flies, which share numerous genetic similarities with humans.
“Eon worked on an important project investigating how the loss of a specific gene, OGDH, leads to brain developmental defects,” Yoon said. “His findings indicate that OGDH mutations cause far more severe effects in some neurons than in others.”
Lim was no stranger to this research, having worked in Yoon’s lab as a high school senior. While most undergraduate research internships involve part-time lab work, Lim said OMRF “gave me a glimpse of what it is like to be a full-time lab tech or a Ph.D. candidate.”
Sachdev, an Edmond resident who attended Casady High School, studied muscle atrophy in the lab of OMRF scientist Sue Bodine, Ph.D. The University of Oklahoma sophomore’s main takeaway: “It taught me that research can be far more creative than I previously thought.”
Bodine said Sachdev’s experiments involved an enzyme known as UBR5. “Ria’s work helped us better understand the role UBR5 plays in regulating skeletal muscle mass,” Bodine said.
A 2023 graduate of Deer Creek High School, Vongthavaravat is studying biochemistry at the University of Oklahoma. She interned in the lab of scientist Rafal Donczew, Ph.D., and studied gene transcription, a continual process in our cells that involves copying DNA into RNA. Gene transcription helps the body perform essential functions, but errors can result in cancer or neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Vongthavaravat experienced what all scientists feel at least occasionally: the frustration of an experiment not going as planned. Despite that roadblock, the aspiring physician-scientist said she left OMRF with a deeper appreciation for research.
“I learned that while you may feel discouraged, it is important to problem-solve, keep your head up and continue trying the best you can,” she said.
Donczew described Vongthavaravat as “exceptionally talented, creative and motivated. The results she collected pushed ahead our studies.”
OMRF’s Fleming Scholar program, founded in 1956, has given more than 600 high school and college students from Oklahoma experience conducting biomedical research. The eight-week program is named for Sir Alexander Fleming, the famed British scientist who discovered penicillin and in 1949 came to Oklahoma City to formally dedicate OMRF’s first building.
To learn more about the program, visit omrf.org/fleming.
