Alyssa Dews

Alyssa is a Senior in the College of Literature, Science and the Arts studying Cellular, Molecular and Developmental Biology with a minor in Science, Technology and Society. After graduating in May of 2020, she plans to attend medical school to pursue a career as a pediatric geneticist. Her research experiences both in and outside UROP have only strengthened her love for genetics and science in general.
Alyssa joined UROP her sophomore year as a Health Sciences student, which allowed her to work as a clinical research assistant in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Her UROP project with Dr. Erin Carlton focused on provider prediction of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) and patient outcomes. While working with Dr. Carlton, she was able to see what life would be like as a research-physician, in addition to learning and challenging herself in new ways. From this, she was inspired to apply to UROP’s Biomedical and Life Sciences Summer Research fellowship. Her project was accepted, and she was able to conduct 10 weeks of full-time research in the Dahmer/Quasney Lab studying the effects of SAM68 and QKI in LPS induced alternative splicing. "Participating in UROP has been an integral part of my University of Michigan experience, and I am thankful for the people I have met and memories I have made as a result."

When not busy at U of M, Alyssa enjoys spending time in her hometown of Plymouth, Michigan with her family. Alyssa is the youngest of four kids, with two older sisters and an older brother. Alyssa loves being a cat mom to Sprinkles, she keeps life exciting and makes the best study buddy (or distraction). Besides cats and family, Alyssa also enjoys drinking coffee, eating ice cream, going to concerts, pretending hse can play the guitar/sing, baking, an occasional jog, and spending time with friends and my boyfriend. On campus you can find her studying at Maizie’s in the League, working at Roeda Studio, sweating it out with CHAARG, volunteering with AMSA or in the CSP office!

"I am super excited to be a UROP peer facilitator for the 2019-2020 academic year and to cultivate a fun, curious and exciting research environment for my fellow Health Science students as they begin their research journeys!"