| Biochemist
Mike Summers was just 32—only slightly
older than UMBC itself—when he was
named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute
(HHMI) investigator in 1994. It was a defining
moment for Summers—and for UMBC. The
appointment made Summers one of an elite
number of researchers nationwide hand-picked
by HHMI for their “potential to make
significant contributions to science,”
and UMBC became the only public university
in Maryland to have an HHMI researcher on
its faculty.
Mike
Summers’ research on the virus that
causes AIDS may have been what caught the
attention of the HHMI decision-makers, but
the special chemistry that exists in his
lab draws as much attention and acclaim
now. In a field where a typical undergraduate
“lab rat” might be just washing
up test tubes, the undergraduates in his
lab are getting hands-on experience in a
world-class laboratory and opportunities
to publish their findings in leading scientific
journals such as Science and Nature.
Using
nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy,
Summers and his students are unraveling
the building blocks of the HIV virus. Thus
far they have solved three of the seven
known proteins. What may be even more remarkable
is that a majority of the undergrads vying
for a coveted place in Summers’ lab
are among the top minority students at UMBC.
“Some of our undergraduates have trained
graduate students,” Summers proudly
explains. “I learn from them, too.
They’ve conducted research in molecular
biology I haven’t worked on yet.”
In
2000, then-President Clinton presented Summers
with a U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence
in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering
Mentoring for his leadership in encouraging
minorities and women to pursue careers in
science.
Summers’
recent UMBC graduates have gone on to medical
school and M.D./Ph.D. programs at Harvard,
Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and
other elite schools. He also directs the
Meyerhoff Graduate Fellows Program in the
Biomedical Sciences at UMBC, which is modeled
on the Meyerhoff Scholars Program. “While
I’m very proud of our research,”
Summers says, “it may be that in the
end, what I do with these students is more
important than what I do in the lab. Now
I hope that what we do in the lab is really
important and beneficial, but I know that
what we do with minority students is right
and good. I never thought I would be involved
in a social movement like this.”
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