UWEC students to conduct research through NIH grant

April 29, 2024

EAU CLAIRE – The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEC) undergraduate students will participate in high-level laboratory research and training in the fields of neuroscience and regenerative sciences this summer at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota – thanks to a nearly $600,000 National Institutes of Health grant.

The new UWEC-Mayo Clinic Regenerative Neuroscience Scholars (ReNS) program will provide high-quality summer research opportunities for UWEC undergraduates through the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program.

According to Brad Carter, assistant professor of biology at UWEC, the goal of the ReNS program is to support student involvement in research-related careers and also provide opportunities in neuroscience research for students from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM fields. 

The program is funded by a National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke R25 grant and is directed by Carter and Isobel Scarisbrick, professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and program director of the regenerative sciences Ph.D. track at Mayo Clinic. 

The ReNS program will support six UWEC students a year to work full-time for 10 weeks doing research with a faculty mentor in a Mayo Clinic lab. 

“These opportunities give students additional experience and perspective that’s complementary to the education they are receiving here at UWEC and can help them form their future planning,” Carter said.

Students will participate in a spring-semester seminar course with Carter in preparation, where they will be matched with faculty mentors at Mayo Clinic.

The students will present their research at local and national conferences in the fall semester following their summer research.