It all began in June

On June 5th, we welcomed our SURF and SURES participants at the Donald T. Frazier Science Outreach Center.  We began by getting to know each other and becoming familiar with laboratory safety and research ethics.  Five groups then participated in a scavenger hunt collecting prizes at various locations on the UK campus.  In the afternoon, the SURF participants worked with Dr. Wendy Katz to learn about immunostaining and other approaches used to examine tissues.  The SURE participants engaged in a "mentor-mentee matchup" to choose their near peer mentors.  These mentors will meet weekly with their mentees to discuss career choices and work on their professional skills.

SURF Monday lunches began with a conversation with Ms. Kaia Hampton.  Kaia is a fifth-year Pharmacology graduate student who obtained her BS in Biochemistry at the University of Tampa.  Kaia is currently a fellow in the Office of Technology Commercialization at the University of Kentucky.  Our discussion focused on what Kaia has learned as a graduate student, her experiences as a fellow and how these experiences will contribute to her career plans.  During our second SURF lunch in June, we practiced our interviewing skills.  The SURF participants joined Dr. Donna Weber in meeting the "SimMan"-a full-body adult, wireless patient simulator.  By administering drugs like albuterol, dobutamine and nitroglycerine, we learned about receptors that regulate the "fight or flight" response on how different drugs work to either activate (agonists) or block (antagonists)these receptors.



SURES Tuesdays began with a conversation with Dr. Dick Shore.  Dr. Shore is currently the Chair of the Bluegrass Group of the Sierra Club.  Their facebook site is here.  Dr. Shore began his career with a PhD in zoology.  Early in his career, he served as a faculty member at the University of Toledo.  Because of his interest in solving problems associated with manufacturing, he then became an industrial engineering.   As a retiree, he is a passionate volunteer of organizations involved in environmental and social justice.  He is also a living history interpreter of the life of John Muir.  For our second June Tuesday discussion, the SURES group practiced their interviewing skills.