Last year, eight inaugural Summer Undergraduate Research Diversity (SURD) fellows arrived on campus and spent 9 weeks carrying out research and receiving professional development training and mentorship. In June of this year, a second cohort returned, hoping to have the same opportunity for the in-depth research and training experience that would ideally better prepare them for future careers in research and industry.
"This year we are proud to welcome a talented cohort of fellows from Howard University, Prairie View A&M University, and the University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras," said Anne Baranger, Interim Dean for the College of Chemistry at the opening remarks of the research symposium that marked the conclusion of the program.
"We know these are the best of the best because we were only able to accept five fellows this year from over 200 applications that were submitted," said Dr. Marissa Yáñez, the Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer of the College of Chemistry. "We are so fortunate that this program enables us to recruit diverse talent from across the country as nearly 80% of the applications we received were from students from groups that are historically underrepresented in science."
Dr. Yáñez was responsible for the program's vision, but she also provided boots on the ground support: finding the funding, mentoring the students throughout its duration, and recruitment. To recruit a diverse group of students, Dr. Yáñez focused on outreach at a variety of conferences and institutions. Additionally, she conducted outreach to institutions including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs), and community colleges. "There is an immense amount of talent in places where students don't often have access to opportunities to do undergraduate research. It has been an honor to work with our immensely talented SURD fellows from HBCU's and HSI's this summer, and we can only hope they come back as graduate students."
Once they arrived, the 2025 fellows were hosted in the labs of Brooks Abel, Matt Francis, Shannon Boettcher, John Hartwog and Ziyang Zhang; and were assigned two mentors: a research mentor who is a graduate student or postdoctoral fellow from within the College of Chemistry, as well as an industry mentor from a biotechnology company, such as Dow and Merck.
During the symposium, fellows presented their summer research projects and findings, along with takeaways from their experiences as a part of their fellowship in Berkeley all summer long.
Anu Bhatta, an undergraduate at UC Berkeley, focused on how the immune system fights cancer. Our bodies have T cells that attack and destroy cancer, but sometimes our immune system becomes overactive and harms healthy cells, which can distract it from fighting cancer. A protein called FoxP3 acts as a regulator, telling T cells to "stand down," but that's how cancer can grow. Anu set out to find a drug (a small molecule) that prevents FoxP3 from binding to DNA.
This is an issue close to his heart because growing up he faced many periods of his life without access to health insurance, as well as times when he desperately needed life-saving medication for a health condition and had to go weeks without it. This shaped his commitment to develop medications that impact vulnerable populations. Anu transferred at the age of 17 and is pursuing chemical engineering, chemistry and molecular and cellular biology.
Trichel Williams, an undergraduate at Howard University, focused her research on creating a safe, targeted way to deliver a powerful immune-boosting signal directly into cells using tiny, harmless, virus-like shells. This helps the immune system better (and more precisely) fight diseases like cancer.
Trichel grew up in Jamaica and was raised by a single mother. Neither of her parents graduated high school, and she didn't have access to much growing up as they worked minimum wage jobs. However this inspired her to be able to provide for family, and she applied to thousands of scholarship applications.
"As an international student from a low-income background, I worked multiple jobs, balanced rigorous coursework, and fought through financial uncertainty, all while maintaining a 4.0 GPA and earning a place on the Dean's List," she said proudly.
Jose Antonio Vega Aponte is an undergraduate at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. He focused his research on discovering new enzymes to add chloride – also known as halogenation to specific substrates known as terpenoids to create valuable new molecules for things like medicine, in a way that increases their benefits and is more precise.
Jose is his father's caregiver, and has also struggled with his own health, having had to put his academia on hold. His junior year, he had to undergo a heart procedure which led him to continue his studies remotely while learning to live with a pacemaker. However this only resulted in his appreciation of his academic life even more once he regained it.
Guillermo Andrés Narváez Lozano is also an undergraduate at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. His research is based on being able to fabricate membranes that don't contain fluorine-based chemicals. These fluorine-based chemicals are very difficult to break down and are therefore contaminant to the environment and very toxic to human beings and all organisms. This is a critical component for clean energy and water technologies by replacing old materials with new, more sustainable ones.
As a Puerto Rican resident, Guillermo is familiar with his home being ravaged by hurricanes, often losing power for days or up to months at a time. This made him aware of the critical need for better, more sustainable technologies needed to improve the environment. In high school, he often lost access to power for months, and in college, endured several disruptions to his research. His early research experiences have solidified his love for electrochemistry that creates solutions that improve energy resilience.
Taylor Elizabeth Brewer is an undergraduate at Prairie View A&M University. Her research focused on using an additive for glue that makes it easier to take products apart for recycling. These additives keep the glue strong during use but allow it to be easily dissolved with a chemical, helping us recover and reuse valuable materials that would otherwise be thrown away.
Taylor was initially a nursing major but fell in love with chemistry. She wanted something more challenging and transferred to an HBCU and learned her faculty was doing research. She says she didn't realize how intimidating it was to be one of a few black students taking AP classes until she was immersed among black faculty members and peers at Prairie View. "They served as living inspirations of what I could become," she said. African Americans make up less than 8% of all PhDs which can be attributed to lack of exposure and financial assistance.
In addition to research, the SURD program included workshops, faculty lunches, and panelists from industry experts. The program was generously sponsored by donors. To learn about how to become a donor for future SURD programs, contact Zareen Khan: znkhan@berkeley.edu