Nechama Dreyfus

NEW YORK — Nechama Dreyfus of New Haven is one of 11 Yeshiva University (YU) undergraduates selected to participate in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), an advanced biomedical research program at YU’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Directed by Dr. Victoria Freedman, Einstein’s associate dean for graduate programs in the biomedical sciences, and Dr. Barry Potvin, professor of biology at Yeshiva College and visiting professor in the cell biology department at Einstein, the program has drawn 58 students in total from a variety of colleges and universities to engage in cutting-edge scientific studies. In fields ranging from neuroscience to epidemiology to microbiology, the students receive hands-on research experience in their areas of interest normally reserved for graduate-level work.

“I’m particularly enjoying my placement in Dr. Linda Jelicks’s animal imaging lab within the Nuclear Medicine and Biophysics Department at Einstein because this technology and field are completely new to me,” said Dreyfus, a biochemistry major at Stern College for Women. The lab Dreyfus is working in uses imaging technology to study the relationship between Chagas Disease, an infectious heart disease, and high-fat diets by analyzing MRI and microPET (Positron Emission Tomography) heart images of mice from different test groups.

“I learned about the medical application of radioisotopes, but I never would have guessed I’d get to see them used firsthand, let alone implement them myself,” she said. “This experience has broadened my sense of research as a whole as well as emphasized the incredible potential imaging technology contributes to research breakthroughs.”

Dreyfus is participating in the program through the Stern Einstein Research Connection Fellowship, created and funded by Stern College alumnae attending Einstein, which provides a student between her sophomore and junior years with an introductory summer research experience at the medical school. Group seminars and workshops throughout the summer give participants a broad overview of the many types of research conducted at Einstein and provide them with strategies to become better scientists. In August, the students share their work as part of a poster session.

“The aim of the SURP program is to provide each student with the opportunity to experience the many rewards and challenges of biomedical research,” said Potvin. “It is hoped that some will decide to include research in their future career plans and that they will apply for admission to Einstein’s MD, PhD or MD/PhD programs.”