A Thomas College student is one of only three students in the country who was accepted into a National Science Foundation (NSF) SuRE (Support for Research Excellence) summer research program. Alexis Spencer, a psychology and biology major from Sabattus, Maine, was accepted into an NSF SURE program at North Dakota State University in the Department of Coatings and Polymeric Materials. Acceptance rates for NSF summer research programs range from about two to ten percent.
Spencer will spend the summer working on creating a computational model to predict how effectively different drugs can block the growth of certain cancer cells.
This summer research internship is fully funded with a stipend and includes structured mentoring and professional development to prepare students for graduate programs, especially MDs and PhDs.
“I’m excited about this opportunity because it combines my passion for science with a rare chance to grow personally. Being selected from a small group is incredibly meaningful to me, and the opportunity to experience research in a completely new place is very exciting,” said Spencer.
“It is so exciting to have one of our Thomas students as part of such a competitive and prestigious program. Lexi has proven that putting in the hard work pays off and makes our students competitive at the highest levels,” said Thomas College Associate Professor of Biology Allison Moloney. “She will be working alongside some of the best and brightest in the field, expanding her technical skillset in chemistry in outstanding facilities with high-tech equipment. We hope that with the skills she acquires she will be able to contribute to a project that Dr. Saloni, Dr. Havelin, and I are working on, studying molecularly imprinted polymers as precision nanocarriers for chemotherapeutic agents and targeted therapies against cancer.”
Spencer hopes to one day become a pediatric oncologist.