URIs_MOMENTUM_Research_and_Innovation_Magazine_Spring_2022_M

MARC not only gave Anya Sondhi financial support,

research experience, and a community of scientists at URI, but also the guidance she needed to successfully pursue a Ph.D. program.

ANYA SONDHI ’22 Undergraduate student Molecular Neuroscience Biology

$1,200 stipend, in-state tuition matching for out-of-state students, a budget for a summer research experience at an external research-intensive institute, funds to travel to an annual scientific conference which is typically the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Students meeting, and a designated research faculty mentor. Beginning in 2019, the NIH awarded URI five years of funding for four trainees per year – a number Howlett hopes to increase. The MARC team also aims to expand MARC participation to STEM disciplines across the University. “It makes a huge difference in the trajectory of these students,” Howlett says. “More importantly, by helping to create a community of student scholars with a strong sense of belonging in biomedical research, the MARC program is promoting a sustainable and inclusive culture of undergraduate research excellence at the University of Rhode Island.”

NANA OBLIE ’23 Undergraduate student Pharmaceutical Sciences

SPRING | 2022 Page 25