This summer, Northwestern’s Chemistry of Life Processes Institute (CLP) welcomed the first participants of its Interdisciplinary Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (I-SURE), a new partnership with Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU).  The eight-week summer program provides promising undergraduates from the federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution with interdisciplinary research training and mentorship in CLP faculty laboratories.

“In keeping with Northwestern’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, I-SURE enables students from underrepresented communities in STEM to gain research skills and confidence to pursue careers in biology, chemistry, engineering, technology and medicine,” says Sheila Judge, CLP’s Senior Director for Research, Education and Administration. “The program also provides a bridge to Northwestern graduate programs, as well as the CLP Predoctoral Training Program. We are delighted to support two outstanding students, Gabriel Urbina and Abigail (Abi) Lopez Alonso, in the inaugural cohort for this program.”

Gabriel Urbina, NEIU biology major

One semester short of completing his bachelor’s degree in math at NEIU, Gabriel Urbina put his education on hold in 2015 to rethink his academic and career goals. In addition to math, he was equally passionate about art and science. At one point, he seriously considered moving to New York to become a full-time painter but his interest in science prevailed.

“During the pandemic, I used to read a lot of scientific articles and listen to podcasts related to science, particularly microbiology and how fast microorganisms evolve and how they’re able to adapt to so many environments,” says Urbina. “It sounds like some kind of dystopian science fiction, but it’s becoming a reality—hospitals are having problems with antibiotic-resistant and antiseptic-resistant bacteria. It’s a double-edged sword because if you’re in a hospital for a long time with cancer, for instance, you have a higher chance of catching these mutated bacteria and infections and that is a big killer for these people.”

Last year, Urbina completed his math degree and immediately began a second bachelor’s degree in biology. He applied for and was accepted into CLP’s I-SURE program and is working in the lab of CLP member Erica Hartmann (biomedical engineering). His research project focuses on hospital bacteria that are resistant to cleaning chemicals and how they evolve and pass on their genes.

Urbina hopes to attend graduate school within the next few years and pursue a career in academia.

Abigail Lopez Alonso, NEIU chemistry major

Before applying to the I-SURE program, Abi Lopez Alonso worked as a medical assistant in various clinics and hospitals. In her last position, she was in charge of dropping off blood samples at the lab, a job that intrigued her.

“I asked, what do you do to get here? A lot of them told me that they had a degree in chemistry,” she says.

Lopez Alonso went back to school intending to become a lab technician, but her professors encouraged her to look into a PhD, an idea she initially believed was “too advanced” for her. After receiving third place for her summer research project at Northeastern last year, she began to reconsider.

“I really wanted to get more lab experience outside of school and see what a PhD program is like from the student’s perspective,” says Lopez Alonso.  “Right now, I am paired up with a PhD student [in the lab of Danielle Tullman-Ercek (Chemical and Biological Engineering)], so I get to ask a lot of one-on-one questions and see the day-to-day to make sure it’s something I actually want to do before I jump in.”

The I-SURE trainee says that she is looking forward to gaining hands-on lab experience doing research with promising pharmaceutical applications.

“Going to school is one thing in that you learn all the theory, but this is really exciting because it is all cutting-edge stuff that’s not in textbooks and hardly in the news,” says Alonso. “Learning the real lab techniques of how to do things is the most exciting part for me.”

I-SURE builds on over a decade of CLP experience managing summer research programs for Northwestern undergraduates.  The program provides a stipend, lab expenses, and an opportunity for students to present at the annual Chicago Area Undergraduate Research Symposium. The 2023 program was made possible through the generosity of several members of the Institute’s Executive Advisory Board.

To identify potential candidates. CLP partners with the NEIU Student Center for Science Engagement.

“I am incredibly excited about this new connection between Northwestern and NEIU,” says Jorge Cantu, assistant professor of biology, and director of NEIU’s Student Center for STEM Engagement.  “The faculty at NEIU and the Student Center for Science Engagement has nurtured a robust undergraduate research community that seeks opportunities like I-SURE to showcase their incredible talent and potential as scientists.”

Preparing a talented pool of underrepresented researchers, Cantu points out, is still only half of the equation.

“Regrettably, summer research programs are often underprepared to accommodate our best candidates,” Cantu says. “This is not the case with the I-SURE program.

“The CLP program was intentional in seeking diverse voices in their mentoring networks and tailoring support systems for the unique needs of our students, who are non-traditional, first-generation, and trained at a primarily undergraduate institution. I cannot wait to open this opportunity to more of our NEIU students in the coming years.”

by Lisa La Vallee