The course is typically open to Mayo Clinic students, physicians, scientists, fellows or residents enrolled in certain programs. Mayo Clinic made the opportunity available to U of I students as part of the Alliance’s effort to explore expanded educational and cocurricular opportunities in entrepreneurship and health care innovation.

This year, 11 outstanding Illinois undergraduates participated in the SURF program. The fellows were given the opportunity to present their Mayo Clinic research projects and share their program experiences during a virtual celebration in September.

Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a new computational tool that can identify pathways related to diseases, including breast and prostate cancer, using single-nucleotide polymorphisms. SNPs, which refer to mutations in a person’s DNA, are the most common type of genetic variation among people. The researchers hope that the tool can help them discover new pathways that have been previously overlooked.

Each year, Mayo Clinic invites around 180 undergraduates from across the nation to participate in their Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. Sponsored by the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, this 10-week program gives undergraduates a chance to work at the forefront of biomedical research at one of the world’s leading medical centers. Students work in the laboratories of Mayo Clinic faculty on small research projects or as part of ongoing investigations, attend weekly seminars, and get to test their inclinations toward a career in biomedical research.

Advanced microscope technology and cutting-edge geological science are giving new perspectives to an old medical mystery: How do kidney stones form, why are some people more susceptible to them and can they be prevented?

Three-dimensional microscale hanging drop arrays are useful in drug discovery, regenerative medicine, stem cell research, and biotechnology.

Although the development of secondary cancerous growths, called metastasis, is the primary cause of death in most cancers, the cellular changes that drive it are poorly understood. In a new study, published in Genome Biology, researchers at Mayo Clinic and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have developed a new modeling approach to better understand how tumors become aggressive.

Disruptions due to COVID-19 didn't deter undergraduates committed to a summer of research training in the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) and Undergraduate Research Experience Program (UREP) at Mayo Clinic. Instead, they learned to thrive in a virtual environment and even presented their scientific posters online. Illinois student Elizabeth Martin presented a poster about her summer research experience, which focused on DNA barcoding.