I just wanted to extend a personal thank you for the support I’ve received from RI-INBRE during my four years in the Pellock Lab at Providence College. Thanks to your funding I have been able to train in the Pellock Lab since my freshman year, including three summers in the SURF program. I came into Providence College with plans to attend dental school, but after my first summer doing research I caught the bug and decided to apply to graduate school. Having recently graduated from Providence College and spent my final summer in the Pellock Lab, I will be furthering my training by pursuing a PhD in Biology at MIT beginning in August.

Without funding from RI-INBRE, I would not have been able to receive the training which has prepared me for graduate school and a career in science.After talking to other prospective students at graduate school interviews, it became clear to me that I had a unique experience in the Pellock Lab which made me a competitive applicant to grad schools everywhere in the country. I was given my own project the day I joined the lab and saw it through to publication, even participating in the drafting and editing of the manuscript. This work spawned further lines of inquiry, and since then we have established the framework for another publication. None of this would have been possible without the funding from RI-INBRE that our lab receives and I would not have been able to spend summers doing research without the salary from the SURF program. I’m extremely appreciative of the support you’ve given me over the years during the first step in my training as a scientist.