Kerry is a senior double majoring in Molecular and Cell Biology and Allied Health Sciences in Honors, with hopes of continuing her education in medical school upon graduation. She currently works as an EMT, and volunteers at Hartford Hospital in the recovery wing during her spare time. Kerry is the Academic Director for Alpha Phi Sorority, and is also an active member of Sigma Theta Alpha, an academic pre-health fraternity. She is the current President of Pre-Medical Society, and is the Coordinator for Youth Development programs in UConn Community Outreach. Kerry has also been a Biology 1107 Student Supervisor for the past year, and has taken an active role in mentoring and teaching other Undergraduate Students. This past semester, Kerry received the Hayley Petit Injury and Violence Prevention Fellowship at Connecticut Children’s Hospital where she worked on public health research, specifically suicide prevention and peer-training. In this upcoming semester, Kerry is looking forward to interning through Planned Parenthood.
Kerry was first introduced to research through the Kinesiology Department’s heat lab during her sophomore year. She transitioned into genetic research through the Allied Health department with advisor Jeanne McCaffery the following semester, which sparked her interest in getting more involved. Before entering the summer, Kerry applied for the Health Research Program through OUR and was offered a position with Dr. James Li at UConn Health. She took on a role in Dr. Li’s lab working on cerebellar development, specifically focusing on the Foxp 1/2/4 genes. As a first semester junior, Kerry continued her work in Dr. Li’s lab and developed a project to uncover the genetic programming behind cell differentiation and proliferation of the cerebellar granule cells. After getting more involved in this project, Kerry was selected as a University Scholar. In addition to her time in the lab, Kerry has also created and presented a research poster for her project. Prior to the summer going into her senior year, Kerry applied for the IBACS and SURF awards, ultimately choosing to pursue the IBACS award. Kerry has continued to enjoy her research experience in Dr. Li’s lab, with the hope of publishing by the end of the summer.
Kerry feels that research has been the focal point of her college career, and would encourage every student to find what they are passionate about in research. Kerry is very excited to get be a Peer Research Ambassador this year, and would love to discuss her area of research with any students that may be interested. If you have any questions for Kerry, or would like advice on pursuit of research at UConn, feel free to reach out.
Student Research Blog Posts by Kerry: