On Tuesday, April 19, I attended the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) Poster Conference on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. The conference is an annual event that showcases the work of 60 students from around the country involved in science, engineering and mathematics research. The research posters are presented to members of Congress, federal agency funding officers and invited guests at the Rayburn House Office Building. The goal is to promote undergraduate research and emphasize the importance of continued federal funding for science research and education.

I arrived three days before the conference to catch a glimpse of our nation's capitol during cherry blossom season. I am fortunate to have a friend who attends the University of Virginia and was able to accompany me for two of those days. We toured the Washington Monument, the Natural History Museum, Chinatown, and the American History Museum. The American History Museum had a science in history section with a 19th century laboratory set up (very cool), and a children's section where they taught them about ELISA assays and how to pipette! Monday, I visited Arlington Cemetery, the Holocaust Museum, the Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian Art Museum with my CUR roommate, Lindsey, from South Dakota.

The day of the conference, I spent the morning with Carol Bender visiting the offices of Representatives Pastor, Kolbe, Grijalva and Senators McCain and Kyl. I discussed my research experience working on a Vitamin E derivative as a novel anti-cancer agent, as well as how research is such a necessary and vital part of undergraduate education. Carol explained why continued federal funding for research programs was necessary to keep UBRP alive and our concerns with the cuts in the NSF and NIH budgets. All were sympathetic, but kept reiterating that the budget is extremely tight this year and just about the only thing that is not getting cut is the Department of Defense and Homeland Security. Representative Grijalva was extremely encouraging and told us to stop by his office in Tucson with letters from other undergraduates involved in research so that he can use/share them with his colleagues in the budgeting process. It was a valuable experience in terms of allowing congressional representatives to hear from students involved in undergraduate research, particularly those supported on federal research and training grants
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In the late afternoon, I presented my poster, “Vitamin E Analogue as a Novel Treatment for Cancer,” with 59 undergraduates from around the country. Most students came with their faculty sponsor, so there were many professors asking difficult questions about my poster, and it was exciting to see the research being conducted by undergraduates (like me) around the country. President Likins stopped by the poster session since he was in Washington on other business. He listened very attentively to my presentation and indicated that he was very proud to have the UA represented in D.C. The poster session was over around 8:00 pm, and I left D.C. the next morning around 5:00 am to make my afternoon classes. Overall, it was an amazing, tightly packed, educational experience, which I am so grateful to have had.

I would like to thank Dr. Emmanuel Akporiaye and Dr. Tobias Hahn for guiding me to become a scientist this past year and Carol Bender for accompanying me to Washington D.C. to help advocate for undergraduate research. I now realize how privileged and lucky we are to have such an amazing program at the UA, as well as the amount of hard work put in by Carol to make such a program even possible. Thank you!

Mikhal Gold, UBRPer in Dr. Emmanuel Akporiaye's lab, Mirobiology and Immunology