Honors College Graduates Selected For University Of Miami Research Program

Four recent Honors College graduates have been selected to participate in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a summer program that allows students from Miami Dade College to get research experience at the University of Miami.

The program will run from May 24 to July 30. Students will work in UM’s labs for 40 hours a week—receiving a $6,500 stipend—alongside a mentor. Once their work is complete, they will write a research paper and present their findings in a symposium.

“This opportunity is incredibly important to me,” said Amalia Abraham Martin, one of the students selected for the program. “I will be able not only to do research and learn from great professionals, but also to write a research paper and present the results in a symposium. I have conducted research previously at Miami Dade College and presented, but due to COVID-19, it was all virtual. I am very excited to finally do it in person.”

Each student will conduct their own research:

• Manuel Faria, who studied biology at Wolfson Campus, will work on how some of the circular DNA that is within mitochondria affects the aging process on a cellular level. He aspires to work in academic medicine and do research about aging, neuroscience or public health.
• Juan Parra, who majored in neuroscience at Wolfson Campus, will study whether progesterone can help improve cognitive issues in men with traumatic brain injuries. In the future, he wants to conduct research to find a cure for dementia-related disorders like Alzheimer’s disease.
• Amalia Abraham Martin, who studied biology at Padrón Campus, will research how the enzyme Lysyl oxidases to improve venous adaptation after creating fistulas for patients treated with hemodialysis. She aspires to become a specialist in cancer biology.
• Marcos Rivas Rojas, who majored in computer science at Padrón Campus, has not yet decided the specifics of his research but it will focus on bioinformatics, computer imagining and artificial intelligence.  He hopes to work with artificial intelligence in the future.

“The University of Miami is just so prepared to [help us] get the type of research experience that will actually tell us if this is what we want to do in our life,” Parra said. “I’m really, really happy with the fact that they’ve accepted me because this could be the start of something bigger.”