Junior Kasima Brown to study tumor stem cells and brain development

Middlebury, Vt. - Middlebury College junior Kasima Brown will have the opportunity to conduct biomedical research and work with world-renowned geneticists this summer through the historic Summer Student Program at The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. Brown was selected from a pool of close to 400 applicants to take part in the program for qualified undergraduates and high school students. Over the next 10 weeks, Brown will carry out an independent research project under the guidance of Associate Staff Scientist Kyuson Yun, who holds a doctorate in biology. In the lab, Brown will study tumor stem cells and brain development.

Brown’s major is molecular biology and biochemistry. She has previously conducted malaria research with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health and is planning a career in forensic science.

In addition to conducting research and working closely with Jackson Laboratory scientists, Brown will interact with students from across the country who share her passion for science. The 31 college and high school students will live together at Highseas, a Jackson Laboratory residence overlooking Frenchman Bay. Brown is excited to spend her summer on the island, where she plans to devote her free time to reading, painting and exploring Acadia National Park.

Since 1924, the Summer Students Program at the Jackson Laboratory has given high school and college students the chance to conduct biological research and develop laboratory skills. Eighty percent of the program’s alumni have gone on to careers in medicine or biomedical research. The program also boasts two Nobel Prize winning alumni, Drs. David Baltimore and Howard Temin, who shared the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.

The nonprofit Jackson Laboratory, with a research staff of more than 450, investigates the genetic basis of cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease, glaucoma, diabetes, and many other human diseases and disorders as well as normal mammalian development and aging. The laboratory is also the world’s source for nearly 3,000 strains of genetically defined mice, home of the Mouse Genome Database and many other publicly available information resources, and an international hub for scientific courses, conferences, training and education.

More information about the Jackson Laboratory Summer Student Program is available at www.jax.org/education.