2026 Research Tracks (Subject to Change*)
Exploring How Everyday Chemicals Affect the Brain and Fat: A C. elegans Summer Research Experience
Faculty: Maria Agapito, PhD
How do chemicals in plastics—like BPA, BPS, and BPF—affect our health? In this hands-on summer program, you’ll use the tiny nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a powerful model to explore how these common compounds impact neurons and fat metabolism. Through exciting experiments, you’ll observe real-time changes in neuronal structure, test how bisphenols affect fat storage, and even investigate gene activity linked to stress and metabolism. This project gives you a front-row seat to modern environmental and neurobiology research, helping you understand how discoveries in a simple worm can reveal insights about human brain health and disease.
No prior lab experience? No problem—this program is designed to spark curiosity, teach cutting-edge research skills, and let you make discoveries that matter.
Molecular Movies: Exploring How Tiny Molecules Shape Life
Faculty: Yanxing Yang, PhD
Have you ever wondered what proteins and water molecules are doing inside your body every second of the day? In this summer research experience, you’ll use computers to create “molecular movies” that show how tiny biological molecules move and interact in real time. Through hands-on virtual experiments, you will explore how changes in temperature, ions, or small molecular differences can affect the shape and motion of proteins. Each student will design a unique mini-project and discover how computer simulations are used in modern medicine, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical research.
Explore the invisible world inside cells, where chemistry, biology, and technology come together. No prior coding or chemistry experience is required—just curiosity and a willingness to explore the hidden motion that powers life.
Inside the World of Cancer Cells: Investigating How Treatments Impact Cell Survival
Faculty: Jamie McCall, PhD
Take your interest in science to the next level by exploring cancer research in a real lab. In this hands-on experience, students dive into authentic cancer research while learning how cancer works at the cellular level. Participants discover that cancer isn’t just one disease, but a group of diseases caused by cells growing and dividing out of control. They explore how healthy cells normally regulate growth and survival, and what happens when those systems break down in cancer. Through interactive lab experiments, students test compounds to see how they affect cancer cell survival while building practical lab skills such as pipetting, microscopy, and basic experimental design. Along the way, students learn how to analyze data, think critically about their results, and communicate their findings.
This program is designed to be challenging, engaging, and fun.Whether you’re curious about medicine, biology, or simply want to try something new, this program offers an exciting and supportive environment to build skills, boost confidence, and get a sneak peek into the world of cancer research and STEM careers.
Phage Explorers: Discovering the Hidden World of Virus Genetics Using Data
Faculty: Héctor G. Loyola Irizarry, PhD
Explore the hidden world of genes, genomes, and evolution! In this immersive research experience, you will learn and apply the fundamentals of genetics and evolution while working with real biological data from bacteriophages, tiny viruses that infect bacteria. As you dive into the microscopic world of the bacteriophages, you will discover how important they are to our ecosystems, biotechnology, and human health. As a participant in the Phage Explorers experience, you will be using bioinformatics, a type of research method that uses computers to decode biological sequences, like DNA, to uncover the function of real bacteriophage genes. You will then apply evolutionary analyses to investigate how these genomes can change over time.
By the end of this experience, you will have developed authentic research skills, critical thinking, and data literacy while experiencing what it’s like to be a working scientist.
Clinical Exercise Physiology: The Medical Science of Human Performance
Faculty: Dr. Valarie DiMartino, PhD, NASM SFC, AFAA GFI
Step into the role of a Clinical Exercise Physiologist and discover why exercise is the most powerful "prescription" in modern medicine. In this high-impact, hands-on program, you won’t just learn about fitness, you’ll master the hemodynamics of the human body, exploring how the cardiovascular and respiratory systems maintain homeostasis under stress. Using medical-grade protocols, you will learn to assess vital signs like a future physician, measuring heart rate, blood pressure, and neuromuscular grip strength to analyze the body’s acute and chronic adaptations. We’ll bridge the gap between biology and clinical practice, teaching you how to interpret data to prevent injury and prescribe movement as a diagnostic tool for longevity.
Whether you are a varsity athlete or have never stepped onto a field, this program is for every future professional ready to understand the most complex machine on earth: the human body. By the end of this experience, you will have developed authentic research skills, critical thinking, and clinical literacy on sports medicine pathology.