Summer Science & Summer Medical Research Training Forum gives students real world research experience
Summer Science & Summer Medical Research Training Forum gives students real world research experience
Miami, Fla., is known for its tropical scenery and beautiful weather, but there’s one thing South Beach doesn’t have, and that’s the 2025 Summer Science & Summer Medical Research Training (SMaRT) Forum.
That forum is what made Prem Parikh, a University of Miami student, spend part of his summer away from the sandy beaches and in the labs of some of the most prominent researchers in the region.
One of those researchers is Ramaswamy Kalyanasundaram, DVM, PhD, a professor and head of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at UIC Rockford. His research focuses on developing a vaccine against lymphatic filariasis, a tropical parasitic infection affecting more than 120 million people in more than 80 countries. That research caught the attention of Parikh.
“I was looking for some research experience this summer, and I’ve been looking for different internships,” says Parikh, 20. “I did some research on this school, and I came across Dr. Ramaswamy’s research and his development of that vaccine. That research was something I wanted to be a part of, and I wanted to work with researchers of that sort.”
Despite not having any ties to Rockford, Parikh, who grew up an hour from Boston, Mass, applied, and he was one of 13 students to participate in the forum, which happened on Friday, Aug. 1, 2025.
It marked the culmination of an intensive, eight-week paid research internship for outstanding high school and college students from across the region. Working alongside faculty researchers, these students explored critical topics in biomedical science, including cancer biology and gene regulation, neuroscience and neurodegenerative diseases and biomedical engineering and organoid modeling.
Under the mentorship of Mohammad Fazle Alam, PhD, a research scientist at the 3D Bioprinting Laboratory within the UICOMR Department of Biomedical Sciences, Parikh’s research poster was titled, “Bioengineered Blood Vascular Assembloids from iPSC-Derived Organoids as a Foundation for 3D HumanBrain Modeling.”
The purpose of this project is to bioprint brain assembloids to model Alzheimer’s disease. Assembloids are models made with living cells that have the structural and functional properties of an organ. This interdisciplinary initiative aims to develop advanced 3D brain assembloids that accurately replicate the structure and function of the human brain.
“My part of this project involved forming blood vessel assembloids,” Parikh says. “We’re taking stem cells and differentiating them into blood vessels and combining them in the 3D bioprinter to form assembloids. It’s really cool research.”
Alam says having Parikh in his lab for the last eight weeks has been a true pleasure. He says Parikh consistently exhibited a remarkable level of dedication, scientific curiosity, and enthusiasm for his work.
“Prem’s strong problem-solving skills enabled him to quickly grasp complex concepts, and he often contributed thoughtful insights into our discussions,” Alam says. “His collaborative nature and readiness to support his peers made him an invaluable member of the team. I am confident that these qualities, along with his passion for science and medicine, will greatly benefit him in his future endeavors. I wish Prem all the best for a bright and fulfilling career in medicine.”
Parikh is a rising senior at the University of Miami with strong aspirations to attend medical school and become a cardiac surgeon. Known for his adventurous spirit, Prem enjoys motorcycles and has experience riding a Kawasaki Ninja, demonstrating his love for precision and focus, qualities he hopes to carry into his future surgical career.
“I’m really happy to be put on this project because not everyone gets to work with stem cells, because they’re not very common to work with, especially at my age, and they’re very expensive,” Parikh says. “This has been great research experience for me.”