Juliann Allen ‘10 feels that her aspirations for the future are closer than ever to being realized thanks to the summer she spent working as a researcher at the Mayo Clinic, advancing her skills as a scientist while working with top scientists at a world-renowned research institution.

Students like Allen who are interested in scientific and clinical research can follow their passions through the Summer Mentorship Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SMURF); one of the many internship programs offered by the renowned Mayo Clinic here in the Twin Cities.

The SMURF program allowed Allen to conduct immunology research at Macalester while simultaneously working part time as an intern at the clinic, where she performed surgery and CT scans on mice to assess their bone densities and study the conditions of osteoporosis type 1 and breast cancer. It ended up being just what she was looking for, and cemented her desires to be involved in scientific research in the future.

But it wasn’t all just about the technical skills. Allen also found an engaging and nurturing atmosphere among some of the world’s top scientists and researchers. “I thought that because it was the Mayo Clinic, I would need to exude intelligence to be seen as worthy of being there,” says Allen. “But there was no attitude of self-righteousness or self-centeredness. I never felt out of place and my questions were always well received and encouraged.”

More significant, however, was the opportunity for Allen to leave the “Macalester bubble” and become a part of professional lab work in a new and real-world environment. “There were of course bad days, when everything would go wrong, and great days, where everything just seemed to piece together perfectly,” says Allen, “but it was the overall experience that gave me an idea of what my future would be like if I was a researcher and I really liked the picture that I saw.”

 

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