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2026 SURP Participants

Students researching at University of Kentucky

Jessica Bennett, Eastern KY University
Leah Buzard, Vanderbilt University
Kayley Herrington, Murray State University
Rebecca Kaelin, Centre College
William Marcum, Western KY University
McKayla Seawood, Bellarmine University
Megan Shirley, Morehead State University
Michael Wright, High Point University
Lilian Zerhusen, Northern KY University

Students researching at University of Louisville

Bolaji Akindiose, Northern KY University
Grady Baker, Eastern KY University
Timothy Eliassen, University of Cincinnati
Josephine Halbauer, Centre College
Makiah Hiser, Eastern KY University
Jack Johnson, Asbury University
Kailey Koger, Transylvania University
Iraj Shahzad, Bellarmine University
Kadar Walters, Morehead State University

KY INBRE funds up to 20 undergraduate students annually to participate in biomedical research under the supervision of faculty mentors who are actively engaged in biomedical research at the University of Louisville or the University of Kentucky. Learn more about the application criteria and process.

Click images below to learn more about the 2026 SURP students

Bolaji Akindios

Home institution: Northern Kentucky University

Year: Rising Senior

Major/Minor (if any): Biology major with a Chemistry and Honors minor

Research Site: University of Louisville

What will I be researching this summer: I am researching genetic regulation of sugar feeding in Drosophila Melanogaster, often referred to as fruit flies, in Dr Hwangbo’s lab. We are trying to investigate what genes might be responsible for controlling sugar consumption.

Future goals: I plan to go to medical school and become either a gynecologist or a gynecologic pathologist. I hope to become a physician who works to help their patients be the best version of themselves.

Outside of the lab/classroom: I enjoy reading, watching tv, listening to music, and singing. I enjoy doing karaoke in my room the no one is home. I am also a big K-pop fan, especially BTS and Enhypen, and I try to go to concerts whenever I can.

Grady Baker

Home institution: Eastern Kentucky University

Year: Senior

Major/Minor (if any): Biomedical Sciences, major; Chemistry, minor

Research Site: University of Louisville

What will I be researching this summer: Applications of AI in Bioimaging

Future goals: I plan to attend medical school and serve communities I care about.

Outside of the lab/classroom: I enjoy record collecting and video games, and this summer I’ve spent a lot of time at a local bouldering gym with friends.

Jessica Bennett

Home institution: Eastern Kentucky University

Year: Senior

Major/Minor (if any): Data Science and Statistics, major. Biology and Psychology, minor.

Research Site: University of Kentucky

What will I be researching this summer: My primary research focus this summer has been using single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) to investigate cellular changes following peripheral nerve injury. My work has involved using R, Loupe Browser, and other bioinformatics tools to identify cell cluster types, cellular changes within clusters, and create visualizations that improve our understanding of nerve regeneration.

Future goals: After graduating, I plan to pursue a graduate degree that will prepare me for an interdisciplinary career combining computational data analysis with biomedical research. My long-term goal is to use my background in biology and statistics to better understand complex biological systems, communicate scientific findings, and advance our understanding of human health. Above all, I hope to inspire others to never stop asking “why,” because curiosity is where discovery begins.

Outside of the lab/classroom: Outside of research and classes, my favorite way to spend my time is with my daughter. Watching her explore the world with wonder reminds me of my own inner little scientist. In whatever free time is left, I enjoy expressing my creativity through sewing, embroidery, and other hands-on crafts. There’s something incredibly rewarding about learning a new skill and turning an idea into something tangible.

Leah Buzard

Home institution: Vanderbilt University

Year: Rising Junior

Major: Cognitive studies

Research Site: University of Kentucky

What will I be researching this summer: I am in the D’Orazio lab studying gene expression in different strains of L. monocytogenes.

Future goals: I hope to attend medical school.

Outside of the lab/classroom: I love to go shopping, travel, watch true crime, and spend time with friends and family. I've also competitively ridden horses most of my life!

Timothy Eliassen

Home institution: University of Cincinnati

Year: Rising Junior

Major(s)/Minor: Neurobiology with minors in English and Chemistry

Research Site: University of Louisville

What will I be researching this summer: This summer, I’m researching carcinogenic compounds that are found in cooked meat, their role in the development of insulin resistance, and a potential treatment using a naturally-occurring antioxidant found in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables.

Future goals: After graduation, I hope to pursue a PhD in neuroscience and research potential treatments for currently-incurable neurologic disorders using cell therapies and brain organoids.

Outside of the lab/classroom: Outside of the lab I like to go to concerts, write, draw, and skate. I am also a member of UC’s media club where I host my own radio show, and I am a teaching assistant for biology classes and labs.

Josephine Halbauer

Home institution: Centre College

Year: Rising Senior

Major(s)/Minor: Chemical Neuroscience major, German minor

Research Site: University of Louisville

What will I be researching this summer: This summer, I am a part of the Youth Eating Study with Dr. Bufferd and Dr. Hoffer, looking at parents’ and children’s emotions, physiological sensations, and eating behaviors and thoughts to try and identify difficulties with anxiety and eating in children and adolescents. More specifically, I have been working on the codebook for the study, which is a document that tells us about the variables that are in the dataset and helps to keep them all organized.

Future goals: I hope to attend medical school and continue pursuing my passion for working with children through a career in healthcare.

Outside of the lab/classroom: I am the Philanthropy Director for my sorority, and I love spending my time volunteering and giving back to my community, especially counseling at summer camp. I also enjoy traveling and experiencing different cultures. One of my favorite experiences was studying abroad in Strasbourg, France, for three months, and I am excited to study abroad again in New Zealand this January.

Kayley Herrington

Home institution: Murray State University

Year: Rising Junior

Major(s)/Minor: Major in biomedical science and minor in chemistry

Research Site: University of Kentucky

What will I be researching this summer: This summer I am working in Dr. Blackburn’s lab. My goal is to study pediatric tumor progression in zebrafish models and test potential treatments. I am using a new cell line that emits fluorescents to indicate whether the cancer cells are undergoing apoptosis.

Future goals: After I earn my bachelor’s of science at Murray State, I plan to hopefully get accepted into the Integrated Biomedical Science Program at UK where I will obtain my PhD. My end goal after all my schooling is to eventually end up in oncology research.

Outside of the lab/classroom: I play intramural sports. I also enjoy hiking, baking, hanging out with friends, and working at the Murray State Alumni office.

Makiah Hiser

Home institution: Eastern Kentucky University

Year: Sophomore

Major: Biology

Research Site: University of Louisville

What will I be researching this summer: This summer I am researching the effects of withaferin A on doxorubicin-induced kidney injury, with a focus on ferroptosis.

Future goals: Medical school

Outside of the lab/classroom: Outside of the lab, I enjoy spending time with friends, going to concerts, and traveling.

Jack Johnson

Home institution: Asbury University

Year: Rising Junior

Major/Minor: Chemistry, Applied research track. Minor: Latin.

Research Site: University of Louisville

What will I be researching this summer: This summer I am working in the Lovley lab using LR gateway cloning techniques to put together transgenes that can be used to manipulate and control the BMP cell signaling pathway that controls expression of certain genes during zebrafish development.

Future goals: After undergraduate, I hope to pursue a PhD in an area of inorganic chemistry, particularly electro- and catalytic chemistry.

Outside of the lab/classroom: Outside of the lab I spend my time exploring, lifting weights, enjoying time with people, playing and watching sports, and generally getting around. At Asbury I am serving as the vice president of Asbury’s chapter of the Sigma Zeta Math and Science Honors Society, and am also a member of the Honors Program there. In the past I have served as a hall chaplain there as well.

In addition, I am a self taught guitarist, and am an avid fan of the University of Virginia Cavaliers.

Becca Kaelin

Home institution: Centre College

Year: Junior

Major(s)/Minor: Biochemistry and Molecular Biochemistry major with Religion and Asian Studies double minor

Research Site: University of Kentucky

What will I be researching this summer: CHD7 gene mutations in Zebrafish retinas to investigate CHARGE syndrome in humans with Dr. Morris’ lab.

Future goals: Gap year before medical school to potentially obtain a master's degree in Chinese Medicine at Taiwan.

Outside of the lab/classroom: I enjoy staying active, such as hiking, running, sports that involve a ball, traveling to a different country to read a book, and playing card games.

Kailey Koger

Home institution: Transylvania University

Year: Senior

Major(s)/Minor: Major: Neuroscience and minor: Chemistry

Research Site: University of Louisville

What will I be researching this summer: I am in Dr. Howland’s lab, researching spinal cord injury rehabilitation and gait analysis in Yucatan Mini Pigs.

Future goals: After graduation, I hope to pursue a PhD/master's in Neuroscience or Experimental Medicine, and I hope to continue in the research field.

Outside of the lab/classroom: I am an RA, president of my sorority, and chemistry tutor! In my free time, I like to travel, hang out with friends, and read!

William B. Marcum

Home institution: Western Kentucky University

Year: Rising Senior

Major/Minor(s): Psychological Sciences Major (with a concentration in Neuroscience) and two minors in Biology and Chemistry.

Research Site: University of Kentucky

What will I be researching this summer: I work in Dr. Santollo’s lab, which studies how estrogens and GLP-1 agonists affect feeding behavior in a rat model. I do a lot of the behavioral work — training my assigned rats on the behavioral task — as well as the computational aspect, coding the MED-PC scripts that run the rats' operant conditioning boxes. Most of my summer was spent looking after 10 rats and running them on a lever-press task in their operant boxes: they press a lever to receive sugar, which operationally defines “motivation to eat.” The task uses a progressive ratio schedule, so each reward requires more lever presses than the last, meaning higher motivation is needed to keep earning rewards. Alongside this, I tracked what stage of the estrus cycle each rat was in and tested how their eating changed across the cycle, with and without a GLP-1 agonist. Overall, it was incredibly fun and an education experience!

Future goals: I will hopefully be in a Neuroscience PhD program somewhere in Europe after getting my master’s to continue my rock climbing and Neuroscience interests. I also eventually want to get into conservation work, but probably after my PhD. I really love nature and animals so some work in that field, even just volunteering, would really fill my cup! I am not sure where I will be but I'm sure it will be fun regardless the path I end up taking!

Outside of the lab/classroom: I am happy to be the President of my Universities Rock-Climbing Club. Rock Climbing is something that I love very dearly and have found while I was studying my Undergraduate degree. It is easily the best way to work out your mind and body at the same time, while learning to be a good outdoorsman. After people get past the initial fear of falling, eventually, it’s just high-up physical puzzles that I just cannot seem to get enough of. Every climb is different and you get to be around the two things I love most in life: Nature and Animals. If you ever get the chance give rock climbing a chance it is great fun and it’s always important to get outside!

The photo below is of a Geode hunting trip I went on which I also recommend.

McKayla Seawood

Home institution: Bellarmine University

Year: Rising Junior

Major/Minor: Neuroscience and Psychology double major with a Biology minor

Research Site: University of Kentucky

What will I be researching this summer: This summer, I am working in the Famulski lab utilizing zebrafish models to understand the molecular mechanism of coloboma in the developing eye.

Future goals: After graduation, I want to pursue a neuroscience PhD program. My dream is to become a researcher in an ALS-centered lab. I wish to delve into the related causes and potential therapeutic interventions for the neurodegenerative disease.

Outside of the lab/classroom: I enjoy playing club volleyball, working out, going to concerts, practicing piano, dancing, reading, tutoring, baking, and spending time with family and friends.

Iraj Shahzad

Home institution: Bellarmine University

Year: Rising Junior

Major/Minor(s): Clinical Psychology, major with a Healthcare minor

Research Site: University of Louisville

What will I be researching this summer: I am researching if there is a relationship between ADHD-related symptoms, screen media use, and attentional functioning. My research will examine whether scores on the SWAN questionnaire and SCREENQ questionnaire are associated with performance on the Attention Network Task (ANT), which measures attentional networks including orienting, alerting, and executive control.

Future goals: I want to work towards getting my Ph.D. to have a career in therapy and research.

Outside of the lab/classroom: My campus involvements include being a Pioneer Mentor at Bellarmine University for first generation college students and also a Bellarmine student ambassador. My hobbies include going to the gym, journaling, and spending time out with friends.

Megan Shirley

Home institution: Morehead State University

Year: Rising Senior

Major: Biomedical Science

Research Site: University of Kentucky

What will I be researching this summer: I am in Dr. Duncan's lab, working with the planarian flatworm. My project is imaging ciliated neurons and knocking down cilia transcription factors to observe the resulting phenotype.

Future goals: After graduation, I hope to attend medical school and become either a pediatrician or neurologist.

Outside of the lab/classroom: Outside of the lab, I love to run, read, go to church, and be with my family.

Kadar Walters

Home institution: Morehead State University

Year: Rising Senior

Major/Minor: Neuroscience Major, Psychology Minor

Research Site: University of Louisville

What will I be researching this summer: I am doing behavioral analysis on mice in spinal cord injury models. Specifically, I am investigating a new form of behavioral analysis known as Motion Sequencing, which parses mouse behavior in unsupervised environments and defines behaviors based on video recordings, machine learning, and frame-by-frame analysis.

Future goals: After graduation, I plan to attend medical school.

Outside of the lab/classroom: I really love to spend time with my friends, whether that be at our campus’ basketball games, football games, or whenever I can spend time with them. I love to listen to music, walk, and cook when I’m not too busy. I also really enjoy nature.

Michael Wright

Home institution: High Point University

Year: Rising Senior

Major: Biology Major, Pre-med track

Research Site: University of Kentucky

What will I be researching this summer: I am researching Klebsiella aerogenes and its circadian rhythms and melatonin sensitivity. I am working through a custom protocol to perform knockout experiments in K. aerogenes.

Future goals: My future goals include applying to medical school and becoming a physician for Kentucky.

Outside of the lab/classroom: I enjoy basketball, the outdoors, and playing piano. I participate in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program at High Point, and I volunteer at a clinic there as well.

Lily Zerhusen

Home institution: Northern Kentucky University

Year: Rising Senior

Major/Minor: Biology major, Chemistry minor

Research Site: University of Kentucky

What will I be researching this summer: This summer I am in the Cassone lab researching the circadian rhythm of Salmonella Typhimurium. My project assesses whether Salmonella entrain to blue light cycles, as it has been suggested that the bacteria have an endogenous rhythm.

Future goals: After graduation, I plan on attending medical school and am considering an MD/PhD program.

Outside of the lab/classroom: I enjoy hiking, going to coffee shops and baking new recipes. I am happy to be VP for NKU’s Health Professions Club and enjoy coaching my little sister’s youth soccer team. I am also excited to start work in patient care at Cincinnati Children’s hospital.

Page updated July 17, 2026

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