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Welcome to the

Office of Undergraduate Research

The Office of Undergraduate Research in the College of Health Sciences is committed to fostering the curiosity of undergraduate students, by offering multiple opportunities, across a variety of topics, for mentored, self-directed work.  Participating in an undergraduate research experience can take many forms, ranging from collecting performance data with human subjects to staining tissue cultures, depending on the student’s area of interest.

Engaging in research will help you learn to apply what you know to questions that interest you, use that experience to select a future career, and take pride in seeing your ideas come to life.

The goals of the College of Health Sciences undergraduate research initiative are to (1) Foster independent thinking and creativity, (2) Offer guidance and mentorship to students interested in research, (3) Provide a forum for students to present the results of their research, and (4) Encourage students to consider careers in the health sciences.

UK to Host National Conference on Undergraduate Research

The University of Kentucky will host the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, April 3-5, 2014. We certainly want CHS to be well-represented. So for planning purposes, please make note of the following deadlines and let’s work with our undergraduates to encourage participation:

September 30, 2013: Abstract Submission Opens
December 6, 2013: Deadline for Submissions

Conference website URL: http://www.cur.org/ncur_2014/

A recipient of the David S Bruce Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research

Aman Shah, undergraduate researcher in the College of Health Sciences, was selected as a recipient of the David S Bruce Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research at the recent Experimental Biology meeting in Boston. He is mentored by Dr. Esther Dupont-Versteegden.

Laboratory Safety in Academia

I am writing to those of you who oversee research laboratories to make you aware of two recent events that have focused national attention on laboratory safety in academia. More...

Student Testimonials Regarding Their Health Science Research Experience

Ryan & Fedwa - Muscle Mechanics/Butterfield Lab

The thing I have enjoyed the most about Dr. Butterfield's lab (besides the people in it), is the opportunity to be directly engaged in research that combines the fields of biochemistry, physics and chemistry in order to exploit the scientific process and ultimately influence protocols and treatments of patients with musculoskeletal disease or injury. -Ryan

Working with Dr. Butterfield is very fun. What I have enjoyed most is learning about muscle components using staining techniques to identify nuclei, macrophages, neutrophils etc. I get excited when I spend two days staining and then I see results on the microscope, it makes every minute worth it. -Fedwa

Honglu Investigating Muscle Frailty - Peterson Lab

I have really enjoyed learning about the processes involved in muscle research. For instance, I have found it really interesting to see and perform the process of staining muscles for fiber typing or identifying other muscle components. The people in this lab are wonderful too – they are all extremely helpful, patient, knowledgeable, and very willing to answer questions. -Honglu

Dr. Livingston's Students - Concussion Assessment Lab

I was interested in research experience in order to get an edge in the medical school application process. I enjoy getting the results that we are looking for. It feels like we accomplished something when everything goes right. (Regarding a typical day in lab) The subject will come in. We take basic information and health history. Then we prepare for the testing (skin prep, getting the program ready, etc.). After that, we begin trying to find each subject’s specific setting on the TMS machine. Once the threshold has been found, we will do various different data collections that we plan to use in analysis. – Peter (former Concussion Research lab student)

Katelyn - Running Injuries / Julie & Lauren - Speech Language Pathology

One of the things that I have enjoyed about my research experience is learning so much about gait. Dr. Noehren has taught me so much about different aspects of it, and I have really had a lot of fun working with everyone involved in the lab. -Katelyn

Aman with Mentor Dr. Dupont-Versteegden
Posters-at-the-Capitol, Jan. 2012

Poster-at-the-Capitol will be one of the most memorable experience for me because I gave my first poster presentation there. I chose to participate in this event because I believe it was an excellent opportunity for me to present my research work for the first time. Dr. Dupont-Versteegden, my research advisor, who has been a great mentor to me also encouraged me to participate in the poster-at-the-capitol event.

 I really enjoyed meeting our states' representatives and talking to them about my research. I also had the opportunity to talk to the president of UK, Eli Capilouto, about my research. I believe I did my best to convey to them the importance of undergraduate research; it feels nice to know that our representatives care and understand the importance of research in general and undergraduate research in particular. Poster-at-the-Capitol also gave me the opportunity to learn and know about the research done by other undergraduates from different fields of studies. In the process of getting to know about their research, I also made several new lifelong friends.

 Overall, poster-at-the-capitol was an amazing experience for me and it will definitely be something that I'll always remember since I presented my first research work at this event. -Aman (shown above with mentor, Dr. Dupont-Versteegden)

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