Fellow Statements
Jordan Hart
I graduated Summa Cum Laude from Alcorn State University (ASU) in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. During my time in undergraduate school, I participated in the Ronald E. McNair program at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, MS. In this program, I gained research and writing experience under the advisement of Dr. Vallender. I completed a study on hydration status as it relates to player performance. I was also able to present my work in the form of a presentation and scientific paper published in the McNair Scholars Research Program Journal Volume 24, Summer 2022 edition. Following graduation from ASU, I began working as an intern with Ironwood Pharmaceuticals where I had the opportunity to work with dedicated mentors from the company on real-world industrial problems related to drug discovery and development. Currently, I am a third-year graduate student in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. I joined the laboratory of Dr. Erin Taylor in June 2022. My current research involves the impact of obesity on autoimmune disease progression in systemic lupus erythematosus. Since joining, Dr. Taylor's laboratory, I have learned several lab techniques that I will need to complete my project including mouse husbandry, euthanasia and tissue harvest, and isolating cells for flow cytometric analyses. Following graduation from UMMC, I plan to pursue a postdoctoral research fellowship in academia. On campus, I am currently involved with the Group on Women in Medicine and Science. Within the community, I serve on the admin team as the Community Service Chair of the Bee the Difference Mentoring Program –a non-profit dedicated to providing free mentoring and tutoring to teen girls in Central Mississippi. My long-term career goal is to continue studying lupus in industry in the field of pharmaceutical research and drug development as well as establish after-school science-based programs in low-income neighborhoods.