Curiosity in Action: UMR Students Share Their Research at NCUR

The National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) is an annual event dedicated to promoting undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activity across all fields of study providing students with an opportunity to share their work, network with their peers and professionals and more. 

This year, 18 University of Minnesota Rochester (UMR) students and two faculty members attended and presented projects ranging from those conducted as part of a class, mentored/directed research with UMR faculty across multiple disciplines or off-campus research experiences completed during the summer at Mayo Clinic and The Hormel Institute. 

A few UMR students who attended shared their experience: 

Kate Kurotani

Kate Kurotani, a third-year student, has been passionate about research since high school and chose to attend UMR because of its strong research opportunities and close connection to Mayo Clinic. Since arriving at UMR, she has expanded her research experience through internships at The Hormel Institute and Mayo Clinic, as well as a directed study with UMR faculty Yuko Taniguchi.

Having previously presented at NCUR, Kurotani returned this year with two poster presentations. One poster highlighted her research at Mayo Clinic examining liver fibrosis and the communication between the liver and skeletal muscles to better understand potential links between sarcopenia and liver disease. Her second poster explored the concept of healing, focusing on how the city’s longstanding culture of music may contribute to well-being in the Rochester community. 

“NCUR was the reason why I came up with the research project for music and medicine or healing. When I came last year, I saw a lot of cool projects from students from different universities across the U.S.. You get to see other students pursuing projects that you wouldn’t normally see,” shared Kurotani. “It’s inspiring.” 

Kurotani hopes to continue her passion for research while pursuing an MD-PhD after graduating from UMR.

Olivia Headley

With a strong passion for chemistry and biochemistry, Olivia Headley has found her place in the laboratory. Although initially overwhelmed, she gained significant confidence through her experience in the SURE (Summer Undergraduate Research Experience) program at The Hormel Institute. There, she learned that research extends far beyond benchwork such as pipetting, cell culture and microscopy, emphasizing the broader scope of scientific inquiry. As she reflected, “There’s a lot of variety in lab work. Sometimes you’re writing manuscripts, sometimes you’re reading, other times you’re doing data analysis on a computer… you have meetings, there’s some group work, but you can also be independent.”

This exposure to the many dimensions of research helped solidify her career goals of pursuing a PhD in medicinal chemistry or biochemistry. Moving forward, she hopes to apply her work toward addressing knowledge gaps affecting underrepresented communities, particularly in biomedical research.

Headley also presented two posters at NCUR. One highlighted her work at The Hormel Institute on tissue fibrosis as a side effect of radiation therapy that is used for lung and breast cancer patients. Her second poster stemmed from a directed study with UMR faculty Dr. Deepali Butani and peers examining FDA-approved sunscreen molecules and their chemical structures to evaluate UV absorption efficiency.

This summer, she will continue expanding her research experience at the RNA Institute at the University at Albany through a National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, where she will explore RNA-based therapeutics and diagnostics.

Ahmed Al Hadeethi

Ahmed Al Hadeethi graduated this past fall and has spent the last semester studying for the MCAT, the next step in his journey to becoming a physician. His interest in pursuing a patient-centered career was solidified during his time at UMR through a variety of experiences, including volunteering, working as an orientation leader and conducting a historical research project focused on a former Minnesota State Hospital in Rochester. After first learning about this former hospital in a class, he then worked with a group to analyze and transcribe old patient casebooks written in cursive. His focus later shifted to examining the use of restraints in patient care and evaluating whether their use was justified by the medical knowledge and ethical standards of the time. 

“I believe the best way to learn about the future is to look at the past and learn from those mistakes. Looking back at those treatments and how certain things went, that’s a good way to learn how to act in the future,” shared Al Hadeethi. 

He presented his research at NCUR, which he described as an amazing experience. One of the highlights was exploring the variety of non-scientific research that offered him opportunities to learn about different topics such as plant-based diets and lifestyle habits – something he’s interested in tailoring his medical school experience toward. 

John Amusan

Currently interning at Mayo Clinic in the neurovascular research lab, John Amusan has been directly integrated into the everyday ins and outs of research. What started as a brief connection with a post-doc student over a shared interest turned into a full-time learning experience that helped him to expand his knowledge of the vascular system and furthered his passion for patient care as a future physician. Additionally, his work in a radiology lab at Mayo Clinic also contributed to this discovery.

“I felt that experience was really beneficial. I was able to see things from the patient side and how the research actually impacts them. A lot of times in research, you’re focusing on the smaller things and you’re not always seeing the bigger picture, but working in the hospital, I get to see the bigger picture and the impact directly with patients," Amusan shared.  

At NCUR, he presented a poster focused on his work at Mayo Clinic on cerebrovascular diseases, such as strokes and aneurysms and finding ways to improve the treatment used by analyzing current methods and reviewing these diseases at a molecular level. Amusan was able to explore different projects outside of just benchtop research. In his words, it was cool to see “curiosity being discovered.”

To learn more about research opportunities at UMR, visit The Hub. To support student research at UMR, give to the UMR Raptor Student Research Fund.