Member Spotlight: Roger Neuberger
Roger Neuberger is a senior Science Research Fellow concentrating in Biochemistry and on the Pre-med track. This summer, he had the experience of meeting people from Turkey and Italy during the undergraduate research program at MD Anderson. During the year, Roger is involved in leadership for the well-renown Hillis Scholars program at Baylor.
Roger initially heard about the MD Anderson internship experience through the Honors college. His PI (Dr. Romo), was also influential in encouraging him to apply for this opportunity. Roger has prior research experience as a Science Research Fellow but he notes that, “This was completely different from any of my past research, so it was pretty challenging”. In addition to a time crunch of 10 weeks to accomplish a meaningful project, Roger says “it was difficult to learn so much new material and apply it with such a short turnaround”. For Roger, the most memorable part was “actually the people I met. Most of the people in the lab were from Turkey or Italy.” Since he had never spoken with others who call these countries home, the experience broadened his perspective. All of the individuals selected from the program had diverse backgrounds, making it all the more interesting to “hear about their experiences back home and what led them to MD Anderson.”
While getting to know such a wide range of individuals, Roger also got to learn multitudes about pharmaceutical research and what it entails. With only a short time, they were still able to produce a meaningful project. The internship has students working from 8am to 5 pm, with weekends free. In the example of Roger’s experience, he used the beginning of the day “taking care of my cells and running western blots” and then finished out with “continuing the. Morning’s experiments or heading to the vivarium to work with the mice.” With so much content to cover in such a short period of time, the interns were pushed to be efficient and develop personal skills through this practice. In reflecting on this, Roger notes:
“…I was surprised by what actually goes into pharmaceutical research….we were studying the effects of a compound both in vitro and in vivo, in multiple cell lines with multiple delivery methods. I didn’t expect to be working on so many different experiments at the same time, but it definitely helped my time management skills. I found myself planning my time in the lab down to the hour several weeks in advance, which I’ve never felt the need to do before.”
This internship program provides students with far more than laboratory experience between the student connections and personal development that occurs in juggling so many experiments at once. Similarly, the Hillis Scholars program is a source of growth and contemplation for all of those involved. While Roger did not have much experience with the program prior to being sent an application, he has no regrets about deciding to pursue the opportunity. For those who are in the same boat, know that Hillis Scholar is much more than just a scholarship program. Roger highlighted that:
“Hillis Scholars bring in speakers from across the country, including executives in industry, admissions advisors, and Nobel laureates. After each talk, we sit and have a meal with them—the small group dynamic and opportunities of the Hillis Scholars program are unlike anything else. There are few other opportunities for direct, one-on-one mentorship from local physicians and faculty mentors like the Hillis Scholars program offers.” Roger quickly realized this in the process and had an instinct about leadership in this program being the right decision for him. When asked on how he would advise students considering the application, Roger says, “We set up the application this year to resemble medical school applications, so my advice to anyone applying is to approach it the same way. Be true to yourself and tell a story!” Please note that the application closes on September 24th.
Roger is the networking chair here at AED and joined his sophomore year. He says that “the biggest impact it has had on me is just by introducing me to other students with similar goals. Some of me best friends are in AED, and we all push each other to succeed.” As a senior, he is finishing up medical school applications and intending to pursue a pure MD. While he is unsure of what area of medicine he would like to go into, he has a range of interests, including neurology, oncology, and ophthalmology. Research will likely be a part of his future clinical work. While a future in medicine can seem daunting, Roger says “I’ve been working my whole life to prepare myself to help others, and I can’t wait to actually learn the skills to do so.”
Written by Samantha Whitney