Dalilah Reyes De Jesus, a junior at University of Puerto Rico in Humacao, participated in the Academic Careers in Engineering & Science (ACES+) SURP program at Case Western Reserve University this past summer. Michael Weiss and Nelson Phillips of the biochemistry department were her mentors and aided her in research that she presented in a culminating poster session.
In November, De Jesus competed in the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) held in Nashville. De Jesus competed with the poster she created at Case Western Reserve, and won top honors at the competition. Her project was on a mutation in a protein that initiates the male development pathway that causes sex reversal.
ABRCMS is the largest professional conference for minority students to pursue advanced training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The gathering attracting approximately 3,300 individuals, including 1,700 undergraduate students, 400 graduate students and postdoctoral scientists and 1,200 faculty, program directors and administrators. Students came from more than 350 colleges and universities, all pursuing advanced training in STEM, and many have conducted independent research.
The conference is designed to encourage underrepresented minority students to pursue advanced training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics STEM.