Program Components
Faculty-Mentored Research
Scholars in Marine Medicine will engage in an immersive research independent study experience in their sophomore and/or junior year. Scholars will perform research at both the Duke University Marine Lab and Duke’s main campus, where faculty mentors on each campus will guide students through their research projects. Scholars will focus on research that cuts across disciplines, such as:
- Cross-species comparative genomics and physiology to understand health-relevant adaptations
- Understanding the risk of cancer from exposure to environmental toxins
- Bioengineering organisms to degrade marine plastic
- Discovery of new drugs from marine compounds
Scientific Training
Scholars will participate in both structured and informal training activities that will contribute to a broad undergraduate research experience. Training activities will include the discussion and review of scientific literature, experiential learning, and scientific communication.
Newly-selected Scholars in Marine Medicine will meet weekly beginning in November of their first fall semester as scholars. These meetings will alternate between lab meetings to go over research progress and peer-led mentoring to review and synthesize previously discussed material. Additionally, scholars will participate in monthly journal club meetings. Collectively, these discussions will foster scientific communication and critical thinking skills.
Funding Opportunities
Scholars in Marine Medicine will be eligible to apply for:
- Research funding (up to $2,500)
- Conference funding to participate in a professional scientific meeting (up to $1,500)
- Travel course funding (up to $1,500; funds can be used for research funding if not used for travel course)
Professional Development
During the fall semester of their senior year, Scholars in Marine Medicine will join the Rachel Carson Scholars and the Repass-Rodgers Scholars in bi-weekly seminars, professional development workshops, and networking events. Scholars will benefit from workshops on scientific writing, science communication, graduate education, and career opportunities. Senior scholars will also be involved with mentoring the new class of scholars in Durham to prepare them for their Scholars in Marine Medicine experience and research.
Graduation With Distinction
In their senior year, scholars will write up their research projects as an honors thesis for Graduation with Distinction. The ultimate goal of the thesis will be to publish the research results in a peer-reviewed journal.
Activity Schedule
Weekly Activities
- One-on-one discussion
- Design/perform research
- Science communication
Biweekly Activities
- Lab meeting
- Peer-lead mentoring
Monthly Activities
- Journal club
Senior Year
- Co-lead group activities/training junior students
- Prepare Graduation with Distinction paper and presentation
- Present work at local or national conference
- Professional development seminar
Meet the Scholars
Current Scholars
Class of 2025 |
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Sanjana Anand Major: Biology Cohort: 2023 Advisor: Dr. David McClay Contact: sanjana.anand@duke.edu |
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Sasha Bacot Major: Computer Science, Biology Cohort: 2022 Advisor: Dr. Joel Meyer Contact: sasha.bacot@duke.edu |
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Will Briley |
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Cecilia Joshi Major: Biology with a concentration in Marine Biology Cohort: 2022 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli Contact: cecilia.joshi@duke.edu |
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Kaylee McKinzie Major: Biology, Marine Science & Conservation Cohort: 2022 Advisor: Dr. Jillian Wisse and Dr. Jason Somarelli Contact: kaylee.mckinzie@duke.edu |
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Maya Slack Major: Environmental Sciences & Policy, Biology Cohort: 2022 Contact: maya.slack@dukekunshan.edu.cn |
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Josh Wagner Major: Neuroscience Cohort: 2021 Advisor: Dr. Jean Crowell Beckham Contact: joshua.l.wagner@dukekunshan.edu.cn |
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Jennifer Yoon |
Class of 2026 |
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Hannah Baetge Major: Marine Science & Conservation Cohort: 2023 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli Contact: hannah.baetge@duke.edu |
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Charlotte Caddell Major: Biology with a concentration in Marine Biology Cohort: 2023 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli Contact: charlotte.caddell@duke.edu |
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Faith Caesar Major: Biology with a concentration in Marine Biology Cohort: 2024 Advisor: Contact: faith.caesar@duke.edu |
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Sarah Kuhlman Major: Environmental Sciences & Policy Cohort: 2023 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli Contact: sarah.kuhlman@duke.edu |
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Giuliana Mesarick Major: Biology Cohort: 2024 Advisor: Dr. Leonardo Ferriera Contact: giuliana.mesarick@duke.edu |
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Austin Simpson Major: Biology, Evolutionary Anthropology Cohort: 2023 Contact: austin.simpson@duke.edu |
Class of 2027 |
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Ella Andonov Major: Marine Science and Conservation (undeclared) Cohort: 2024 Advisor: Dr. Edward Levin Contact: ella.andonov@duke.edu |
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Sal Carlson Major: Marine Science & Conservation, Chemistry (undeclared) Cohort: 2023 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli Contact: sal.carlson@duke.edu |
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Rose Cassidy Major: Biology with a concentration in Marine Biology Cohort: 2024 Advisor: Contact: rose.cassidy@duke.edu |
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Kevin Guo Major: Global Health, Statistics (undeclared) Cohort: 2023 Advisor: Dr. Nishad Jayasundara Contact: kevin.guo@duke.edu |
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Kathryn Homa Major: Biology, Spanish Cohort: 2024 Advisor: Dr. Nishad Jayasundara Contact: kathryn.homa@duke.edu |
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Will Sun Major: Biology Cohort: 2024 Advisor: Dr. Edward Miao Contact: william.sun@duke.edu |
Class of 2028 |
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John Grissinger Major: Biology with a concentration in Marine Biology (undeclared) Cohort: 2024 Advisor: Contact: john.grissinger@duke.edu |
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Gayathri Vanka Major: Biomedical Engineering (undeclared) Cohort: 2024 Advisor: Dr. Gayathri R. Devi Contact: gayathri.vanka@duke.edu |
Alumni
Class of 2024 |
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Betty Alfaro |
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Alex Hong Major: Computer Science Cohort: 2021 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli |
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Katherine Krieger Major: Biology Cohort: 2021 |
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Natalie Lewis Major: Environmental Science Cohort: 2022 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli and Dr. Tom Schultz |
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Vignesh Pirapaharan Major: Biology, Global Health Cohort: 2021 Advisor: Dr. Nishad Jayasundara |
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Jas Santos Major: Biology, Molecular Bioscience Cohort: 2021 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli |
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Clare Sparling Major: Biology Cohort: 2021 Advisor: Dr. Joel Meyer |
Class of 2023 |
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Alexandra Bennion |
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Jerry Fu Major: Environmental Science major, minors in Chinese and Computational Biology Graduation Year: 2023 Advisor: Dr. Thomas Schultz |
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Rita Glazer Major: Computer Science Graduation Year: 2023 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli |
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Ella Gunady Major: Biomedical Engineering; Biology Graduation Year: 2023 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli |
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Rebecca He Major: Biology with a concentration in Marine Biology; Computational Media; Earth and Ocean Sciences minor Graduation Year: 2023 Advisor: Dr. Andreas Fahlman Research Project Title: Allometric scaling of basal metabolic rate of marine and terrestrial endotherms as explained by cardiorespiratory variables |
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Matthew Huang Major: Biology Graduation Year: 2023 Advisor: Dr. Thomas Schultz |
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Natalie Kubicki Major: Biology Graduation Year: 2023 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli |
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Jake Spruance |
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Shawin Vitsupakorn Majors: Biology & Global Health Graduation Year: 2023 |
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Larry Zheng Major: Biology with a concentration in Marine Biology; Minor: Computer Science Graduation Year: 2023 Advisor: Dr. David Johnston |
Class of 2022 |
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Cameron Bozdog |
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William Marcus Major: Biology with minor in Chemistry Graduation Year: 2022 |
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Abbey Milwicz Major: Biology Graduation Year: 2022 Advisor: Drs. Jason Somarelli and Tom Schultz |
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Bea Schleupner Major: Biology; Environmental Sciences minor Graduation Year: 2022 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli Research Project Title: The combined effect of microplastics and associated marine toxins on mammalian cells |
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Serafina Turner Major: Computer Science Graduation Year: 2022 Advisor: Dr. Jason Somarelli Research Project Title: Bioremediation of plastic |
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Justin Yang |
Class of 2021 |
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Divya Dayanidhi |
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Joy Lu |
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Zack Weishampel |
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Tristan Westover |
Class of 2020 |
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Maya Sheth I first fell in love with the oceans in the second grade when I watched Free Willy, did a research project on orcas and started swimming competitively. Growing up, I spent more time in or thinking about the water than just about anything else. At Duke, I am involved with the organization Duke Conservation Tech (DCT), where I learned of the unexplored potential of applying techniques from medical and tech fields to the conservation movement and vice versa. Through DCT, I was a co-organizer of a sustainable tech ideation conference, Blueprint, where I was first introduced to Duke’s Comparative Oncology Lab. I look forward to continuing my design and research work with them in the coming years! |
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Giselle Vargas I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada and fell in love with medicine while volunteering in the emergency department of the busiest hospital in the city. For most of my life I never saw the connection between marine life and medicine but in the fall of my junior year I spent a semester at the Duke Marine Lab and became interested by the cross section between humans and marine mammals. As a new scholar I hope to study this relationship further. Last summer I worked for a viral vector core where we created and studied the advancements of vectors in various neurological disorders. Outside of school and research, I spend my time playing soccer for an intramural co-ed team, volunteering at the Hospital, and teaching English to Spanish speaking adults and children. I also love to travel, try new foods, get creative with makeup, and go to concerts. |
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Mallissa Vuong I was born and raised in New Jersey, where I developed a passion for medicine by volunteering at my local hospital and obtaining my New Jersey state-certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) license. At Duke, I am pursuing this interest in medicine through my studies as well as by volunteering in the Duke University Hospital. I spent the fall semester of my junior year studying at the Duke Marine Lab, where I was introduced to various areas of marine science and became fascinated with marine biology and its intersection with medicine. Aside from STEM, I am also interested in art. I have drawn and painted since a very young age and have entered and won several national and international art contests throughout my high school career. I have continued expressing my artistic side at Duke through my participation in Small Town Records (STR) as a Visual Media Representative and as a Stylist for Duke’s The Standard publication. If I am not studying or painting, one can also find me enjoying the outdoors. |
CLASS OF 2019 |
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Serene Cheng Before coming to Duke, I lived in Taiwan for 18 years. I grew an interest in marine science ever since I read the German novel “The Swarm” in middle school. After taking a field research course at Belize about marine ecology through Duke Marine Lab, I decided that it is something I want to pursue in the future. I interned at an NGO named The Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan, helping with the research and the graphic design work. Besides research, I have a passion in science communication. I own a YouTube channel with more than 100,000 subscribers. It is mainly about fashion and beauty, but I also strive to bring to light issues I’m passionate in, and inspire my audience to take action. I cooperated with the National Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium in Taiwan to host events and talks on environmental topics. Research: For organisms with large body mass, a major constraint on the evolution is the increased risk of developing cancer. If all cells have a similar risk of malignant mutation and equivalent cancer suppression mechanisms, organisms with more cells would be expected to have higher rates of cancer-causing mutations than organisms with fewer cells. Yet, this isn’t true. This lack of correlation between body size and cancer risk is known as Peto’s Paradox. Among the mechanisms that large animals may have evolved that resolve Peto’s paradox are an increase in the copy number of TP53, a tumor suppressor gene. Sperm whales, however, only have one copy of TP53 gene; therefore, we hypothesize that the tumor suppression activities of TP53 in sperm whale are stronger than human TP53. Our goal is to investigate the TP53 gene of sperm whale and its tumor suppression activity as a potential mechanism to explain how they have evolved enhanced resistance to cancer. |
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Parker Matthews I was born and raised in Kansas City, where I became interested in medicine while volunteering in an emergency room. I had the amazing opportunity to study at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort, NC during the Spring 2018 semester, and travel with faculty to Belize and Singapore. During my semester at the Marine Lab, I grew passionate about the oceans and marine life. Outside of the lab, I work for a rescue squad as an Emergency Medical Technician in Franklin County, NC. I have also worked as an analyst for two companies providing emergency telemedicine and teleneurology services to individuals, travelers, hospitals, and the government. In my free time, I love golf, travelling, mountain biking, and Kansas City sports. Research: My Scholars in Marine Medicine project is co-sponsored by Dr. Tom Schultz at the Duke Marine Lab and Dr. Jason Somarelli at the Duke Cancer Institute. My project ties into a much larger, decades-long attempt to understand the adapted resistance of certain populations of the Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) to environmental carcinogens and teratogens (PAHs, PCBs, dioxins, etc.). Advances in DNA sequencing technology have given researchers new tools to analyze genetic variation within- and between- populations of these fish. My work at the Duke Marine Lab is primarily grounded in bioinformatics, attempting to leverage existing data on regions/targets of selection between adapted and non-adapted populations of killifish to learn more about the roles of specific genes in the adapted toxicity-resistant phenotype. Specifically, my project is looking at a group of genes involved in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor pathway, including the aryl hydrocarbon nuclear translocator (ARNT). In addition to its role in the metabolism of environmental toxins, ARNT is also the beta subunit of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF1), which is known to play a role in tumor progression in many cancers. The overall goal of this project is to continue this research at the Duke Cancer Institute and apply findings from adapted carcinogen/teratogen resistance in killifish to mouse or human cell lines to better understand ways to combat exposures to environmental carcinogens. |
How to Apply
Each fall, the Duke University Marine Lab and Duke Comparative Oncology Group will select Scholars in Marine Medicine for the upcoming academic year. First-years, sophomores and juniors are eligible to apply. Scholars will be announced in December.
Deadline
October 17, 2025 by 11:59 PM
Application
The application process includes submitting the following items as one PDF document with the file name LastName_FirstName_GradYear_SMMApplication:
- Statement. Prepare a one-page (12-pt font, 1-inch margins) statement describing how you will benefit from the Scholars in Marine Medicine Program and how this program will help you reach your academic and career goals. The application statement should also include ideas for research projects and a discussion of why a specific research theme is of interest.
- Resume. Your resume should be one page and include relevant experience, coursework, and your GPA.
All application materials should be emailed to the Scholars in Marine Medicine Program at mmscholars@duke.edu by the deadline. Applications with statements or resumes not meeting the formatting standards listed above will not be considered. Semi-finalists will be selected from the pool of applicants for interviews with the Program Director or may be asked to provide additional information.
Partner Organizations
Outreach
HackBio Brings Scientists and High-schoolers Together
During the HackBio event – a two-day program to engage high school students in experiential learning and broaden their exposure to STEM careers – Duke Scholars in Marine Medicine advised high-schoolers on the importance of finding schoolwork/life balance in college and building strong relationships with mentors, and even offered tips on preparing for medical school.
Outreach
HackBio Broadens Exposure to STEM, Environmental Health Fields
Members of Duke Cancer Institute and The Nicholas School for the Environment hosted HackBio – a two-day program to engage high school students in experiential learning and broaden their exposure to STEM careers.
Senior Honors Thesis
How Do Whales Fight Off Cancer?
Oxford University epidemiologist Richard Peto was puzzled by a paradox: If cancer is a function of individual cells going haywire, wouldn’t an organism with a lot more cells, say a whale, have a greater chance of getting cancer than a human or a mouse? 2019 Duke graduate Serene Cheng explored this paradox – specifically as it relates to whales – in her senior honors thesis.
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