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- UROP Associate Director Catalina Ormsby Receives Distinguished Diversity Leaders Award
- UROP Welcomes New Director: Dr. Michelle Ferrez
- Thirty Years of UROP: Explore More
- 30th Anniversary of UROP Program
- A two-way street: UROP Peer Facilitators support first-year, second-year, and transfer students in their research and academics — and learn from them in the process
- UROP adapts to COVID crisis
- Corey J. Schiffman, MD
- Brent Frey, DDS
- Jane Brown, PhD Candidate
- Yaera Spraggins, Recently Published UROP Alumni
- Scott Koenigbauer, PhD Candidate
- Olivia Negris, Doctoral Candidate
- Michael DiDonato, UROP Alumni
- Vivian Kurtz UROP Alumni
- Geoffrey Jenkins, UROP Alumni
- Rhonda Fields, MSW - UROP Alumni
- Trey Thomas UROP Alumni
- Elizabeth Schill UROP Alumni
- Ryan Shami UROP Alumni
- Melissa Manley, PhD Candidate
- Tejash Patel, PhD
- Hayley Hoffman UROP Alumni
- GradeCraft helps UROP students become more curious and better researchers
- Lamira Ray, MPH
- Joshua Hurlburt, DDS
- Megan Wampler - UROP Alumni
- UROP Student Spotlight - Yasmeen Berry
- Celina Romano, JD, PhD Candidate
- Mikel Haggadone, PhD Candidate
- Colby Hanley, UROP Alumni
- Ian Waters, PhD
- Yannah Melle UROP Alumni
- Nida Ali, MPH
- Julia Wang, MD-PhD
- Ryan McWay, Research Area Specialist Associate
- Aracely Marroquin, CCSFP Researcher Awarded Grant
- Undergraduate student research spring symposium goes virtual
- Shannon Shaughnessy UROP Alumni
- Asa Smith, PhD, RN
- Lisa Barrett, PhD
- Kartik Bhatt, MPH
- Sari Grossman UROP Alumni
- Erin Ealba Bumann, DDS, PhD, MS
- Michael Marzano, UROP Alumni
- Connie Truong, MD
- Dan Hearsch, MBA
- Alexis Mulski, PhD Candidate
- Kristin Fischer, MPH
- Sujay Shetty, UROP Alumni
- Shao Wei Chia - UROP Alumni
- Courtney Whitcher, BS
- Arjune Dhanekula, MD
- Thomas Talhelm, PhD
- Gretchen Chidester, PhD
- Smita Bhattacharya, MS
- Sydney Foy - UROP Alumni
- Dr. Peter Scott - Alzheimer's Research
- Dr. Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes Research Project Feature
- Dr. Teresa Satterfield Research Project Feature
- Dr. Lindsay Bornheimer Research Project Feature
- Dr. Lisa Wexler Research Project Feature
- Dream of Detroit UROP Community Partner
- Rodrigo Ramirez Lescano, Masters Candidate
- Community Development Advocates of Detroit - UROP Community Partner
- Detroit Food Academy - UROP Community Partner
- Dr. Stephanie H. Cook Research Project Feature
- Josh Katzenstein - UROP Alumni
- Dr. Bethany Hughes Research Project Feature
- Dr. Lorenzo García-Amaya Research Project Feature
- Andrea Pesch, PhD Candidate
- Cindy A. Schipani, JD Research Project Feature
- UROP Research Project Feature: Human Rights and Indigenous Rights in Africa
- Nortown Community Development Corporation - UROP Community Partner
- Cyrus Najarian, MD/PhD Candidate
- UROP Featured Alumni Maggi Li
- Dr. Mehboob Hussain - Research Project Feature
- Research Project Feature: TrialNet Type 1 Diabetes: Pathway to Prevention
- Dr. Nikhil Parekh - Research Project Feature
- Vincent Pinti - Neubacher Award Winner
- UROP Alumni John Soukar, PhD Student
- UROP Alumni Hannah Levy
- UROP Alumni Collin Beavan
- UROP Alumni Julie Felberg
- UROP Featured Alumni Austin Basley
- Emily Guo - Community Health Fellow
- Harsh Jhaveri, BSE
- Dr. Kathryn Swanson, DDS
- UROP Featured Alumni Michael Falbo
- Allyson Eastman, JD
- UROP Alumni Aida Mandić
- UROP Alumni Accolades
- Brooke Bacigal, MSt Diplomatic Studies
- Research Mentor Feature: Dr. Alvaro Rojas-Peña
- Research Feature: Andre Monteiro Da Rocha, PhD
- Research Feature: Nancy Harmon R.D.H.
- Research Feature: Mothering Justice
- UROP Research Feature: Kimberley Heinrich, Ph.D.
- Research Feature, Audrey G. Bennett MFA
- UROP Alumni Justin Gordon
- UROP Alumni Emily Yerington, MAT; MEd
- UROP Alumni Maya Millette
- UROP Alumni Jacob Blanksvard
- UROP Alumni Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig
- UROP Alumni Andrew Arche
- UROP Alumni Savannah Jelneck
- Congratulations Virgil Watkins
- Congratulations Emmanuel Orozco Castellanos
- Congratulations to Solomon Trice and his mentor Professor John Valadez.
- Congratulations to Associate Professor William A. Calvo-Quirós on receiving the Best First Book in the History of Religions for his book Undocumented Saints: The Politics of Migrating Devotions
- Empowering young academics: U-M program humanizes research
- UROP Students Succesfully Collaborated with Mentor Dr. Fadhl Alakwaa
- Tech Meets Wellness: A CS Student Innovates a U-M Mental Health App
- Archived News
- Lessons from virtual summer fellowship in Detroit linger for students
- All Events
What UROP Program were you a part of?
The Traditional UROP Program during the 2013-2014 school year
What made you choose UROP?
After I accepted my admission offer from Michigan, I knew I wanted to get involved in research here. That summer, I got an email about UROP, and I applied to be part of the program. It seemed like the perfect fit for me as an incoming student who wanted to do research but didn’t know where to start to find a research position.
What do you think you have learned from your UROP experience?
It definitely helped me learn about what I was interested in academically. I was pre-med as a first-year student, but the different experiences I was exposed to while working in the lab made me realize that medicine was not my calling. Thankfully, my mentor gave me a lot of different experiences in the lab so I was able to figure out what my strengths were, as well as getting a clearer sense of what I liked and didn’t like about lab work.
What is the extent to which you have kept in contact with your Research Mentor?
Even almost seven years later, we still keep in touch! I still stop by the lab a few times a year to catch up. A strong connection developed between me and my supervisors because I stayed working in the lab after my one UROP year, and I stuck around because I really liked the environment I was in while working in the lab. The connections I made during my years in the lab provided me not only with strong professional references but also mentors that would always be happy to provide guidance.
How did your UROP experience shape or inform the next steps you took in your academic and professional journey?
After my first year in school and I moved on from the UROP program, I continued to work in the same lab for course credit through independent study (which I would highly recommend). I ended up working in the lab throughout college, and as full-time research staff for another two years after graduation. I feel like I learned more about biology from my lab work than I did in my biology major because I was doing the real, hands-on work that helped medical research create findings and ultimately get published. After two gap years, I enrolled at the School of Public Health here because the work I was doing in the lab was giving me a genuine look into the life of a research scientist. I feel like without all this experience in the lab, I would have had a much harder time figuring out a career path.
What advice would you give to a current UROP student?
Be an ambassador for the program. I was surprised by how many students I talked to that felt like they had “missed the bus” by not being a part of the program as a first-year student. If you encounter this as well, encourage them to still apply to be a part of the program because the UROP program can be a seriously valuable part of your college experience. In addition, be honest and open about your experience in the program when talking with other students and potentially prospective students, even if your experience wasn’t perfect, so that future students will have a more informed sense of what to expect from the UROP program.
What are some recent publications or accomplishments that you are proud of?
I am currently finishing up my thesis for my Epidemiology program here at Michigan, so I hope to soon have my first publication as the first author!
Is there any other advice you would like to impart to current or future UROP students?
Make the most of your four years at Michigan. The time really does go by quickly, so soak up as much as you can. There’s so many perks to being a student, so use your time wisely so that you can graduate with a clear vision of what you want to do, both professionally and personally, and learn as much as you can so you’ll have the skills to accomplish whatever it is you hope to do after graduation.