More than 15 ReBUILDetroit scholars attended in the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), one of the largest communities of underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in November.
ReBUILDetroit is funded by a $21-million grant from the National Institutes of Health to increase diversity in the biomedical research field. The funds were granted to a consortium headed by Detroit Mercy that includes Wayne State University and Marygrove College.
Two of the scholars were recognized for their outstanding presentations in the categories: cancer biology and physiology.
For Jada Nelson, ReBUILDetroit scholar from University of Detroit Mercy and a winner in the cancer biology category for outstanding presentation, the conference strengthened her confidence.
“It gave you a perspective, yes, I can do this,” exclaimed Nelson. “There were others like me doing the same thing. I can move forward especially [knowing there are] people [like me] specifically in my field.”
This was echoed by outstanding physiology presentation award winner, Arren Simpson.
“To see minorities in positions and to hear their stories was inspiring,” said Simpson a sophomore at University of Detroit Mercy. “ReBUILDetroit gave me an upper hand since I already presented at several BUILD sponsored presentations.”
The conference provided an outstanding forum for scholars to network with peers, researchers in their field and make contacts at future graduate schools.
More than 3,000 students from over 350 colleges and universities attended the four-day conference in Phoenix. Poster and oral presentations were presented in twelve STEM disciplines and the highest scored in each scientific discipline received an award during the closing banquet.
Click here to see Nelson discuss her project and here to watch Simpson discuss hers.
