December 9th
SEA-PHAGES IMPACTS
CHAIHONG (MIKE) NAH
Back in November, our HHMI program students participated in the annual SEA-PHAGES conference at Drexel University. Mike Nah, one of our SEA-PHAGES students, determined to enrich his experience at Lehigh, presented a poster at this science conference. Some students rarely get to present their research at an undergraduate level, and HHMI provides access to these new opportunities. Here is what Mike had to say about his experience:
“So during my first and second year of my college career, I got an opportunity to participate in a research about bacteriophage at the department of Biological Sciences with Howard Hughes Medical Institute. After a year long research, Lehigh University faculties and students were able to share their works about different bacteriophages at Philly Phage Phestival here in Drexel along with other institutions. For me, along with my classmates, this experience was so rewarding and helpful on how to present the data professionally and learn how the science community works. It is truly amazing to participate in this program. I learned so much from this experience."
-Nah
November 16th
PHILADELPHIA PHAGE PHESTIVAL
THE PROGRAM THAT CAN PUT YOUR NAME ON NEWLY DISCOVERED MICROBES IS HEADING TO LEHIGH
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A Fascinating Program with a Robust Legacy
SEA-PHAGES has been around for a long time at Lehigh, adopted more than 10yrs ago. As the mission has changed, our program has begun to adapt to the needs and challenges of the future. Despite the near-infinite variety in bacteriophage evolution, this multi-institution endeavor is even now asking program participants to make real breakthroughs in medical research. Our annual conference is the fascinating point where the solid results of our students’ efforts see the light of day.
We invited professionals and graduate students who have participated in the program, to share the morning with us at Drexel University. With the understanding that our collaboration with other schools can advance the research, we are beginning to develop successor programs, such as SEA-GENES, that will provide ever more opportunities for our students.
Our alumni are going to continue to be an important part of this program moving forward, by providing their own perspective and experiences in phage research. Program alums continue to contribute their voices, like Barbara Tsaousis and Garrett Santini, whose careers offered nuanced views for our breakout sessions, and spoke with our current students to give them an idea about where their careers could take them.
The Phage-Phestival is coming to Lehigh in 2020
We are thrilled to announce that the Phage Phestival will be coming to Lehigh University’s Iacocca Conference Center next November. South Side Bethlehem, as well as Asa Packer Campus, will both have gone through extensive changes with new facilities and artwork everywhere. While we celebrate our home, we will continue the program’s mission to empower ourundergraduate STEM students in putting their names on real research, with real impacts to the scientific community. We look forward to seeing all the new faces from the collaborating schools on our own campus.
