Raptor Research Fund Awardee to Present at Annual Biomedical Research for Minority Students

Christine Chukwuocha, a sophomore at the University of Minnesota Rochester (UMR) from Brooklyn Park, Minn. has a passion for health care. She chose to attend UMR because of its small class sizes, one-on-one interaction with faculty, research opportunities and its location near the world-renowned Mayo Clinic.

Her passion for health care has led her to an opportunity to present her research poster at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in Indianapolis, Ind.

Chukwuoacha first heard of the ABRCMS conference from her mentor, Ashley Scott, an MD-PhD student with Mayo Clinic. With some encouragement and guidance from Scott, Chukwuoacha applied to attend and present at ABRCMS. A few weeks later, she was informed that her abstract was accepted.

Chukuoacha’s research is centered around the gene that causes hearing loss and she will present on this topic at ABRCMS. Her research observes the differences of inner ear hair cells of Zebrafish to better understand the gene.

“I’m familiar with cancer research and organ research, but when I started, I didn’t know anything about hearing loss,” says Chukwuoacha. “I wanted to challenge myself and put myself out of my comfort zone and this research topic allows me to do so.”

Chukwuoacha is the first student to be awarded the Raptor Student Research Fund from UMR. Recognizing that travel and conference costs are a barrier for most students, the Raptor Student Research Fund was established to make these experiences more accessible and encourage broader participation.

“UMR students are doing interesting work through research and we want to support their ability to share that work by presenting at student and professional conferences,” says Dr. Jeffrey Ratliff-Crain, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Innovation. “Attending conferences like these are, additionally, great experiences and ways to learn first-hand what is happening in a field, see leaders in those fields present their work, and network.”

The ABRCMS conference will take place from November 14-17, 2018.