5,000+

Reisha Parham (Virginia
Polytechnic Institute & State
University) is an honors student and
was an Initiative for Maximizing
Student Diversity (IMSD)
Undergraduate Scholar. Reisha
participates in the American Institute of Chemical
Engineers and the National Society of Black
Engineers. She has made conference presentations at
the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for
Minority Students, the Virginia Tech Undergraduate
Research Conference, and the Multicultural
Academic Opportunities Program Summer Research
Internship Symposium.
Maurice Patterson (University of
Virginia) participated in the 2009
Research Experience for
Undergraduates in the Center for
Diversity in Engineering at U.Va..
His research project was titled
Characterization of Pressure
Transducers with Polyelectrolyte Gels. Maurice
currently works for the U.S. Naval Air Systems
Command.
Nikita Patton (Bennett College for
Women), a chemistry major, was
accepted to the George Washington
Carver Summer Program at the
University of Arkansas, where she
conducted her research Preliminary
Characterization of the Binding of the Peptide
Derivative of an Important RAS GTPASe Binding
Effector for Abnormal Cells Signaling Mutant of the
RAS Protein CDC 42. Nikita worked as a business
consultant at the United States Army Research
Laboratory in 2010 and is now in graduate school at
California State University, San Bernardino.
Shoteria Pearson (Bennett
College for Women) is from
Baltimore, MD and has been
recently admitted to the MS in
Public Health program at Meharry
Medical College. In the summer of
2009, she interned
(Collaborating Around Research and Education)
Prostate Cancer Program. She presented her summer
research findings at the Northeast Alliance at Bennett
and at the State of NC Undergraduate Research and
Creativity Symposium Conference at UNC
Wilmington. In the summer of 2010, Shoteria
returned to Duke University, to participate in the
Making a Difference in Nursing Program.
Charnee Pearson-Starling (Bennett
College for Women), a biology
major who graduated in May 2011,
is from Washington, DC. Charnee
was and a constant presence on the
Honors Row and the D List.
Charnee also dedicated time to be a
Student ambassador at the Student Union Advisory
Board, and was the president of the Biology Club.
Charnee is planning on applying to a Bridge to the
Doctorate program with a research focus on
molecular biology.
Jennai Pettis (Elizabeth City State
University) received her
undergraduate degree in
biology/pre-med and is currently a
pharmacy sciences student at North
Carolina Central University.
Michael Pheng (Virginia
Polytechnic Institute & State
University) is a student in the
honors program. In 2010, he
participated in undergraduate
research at the Center for
Chemistry in the Universe at the
University of Virginia. He was the recipient of a
George C. Vaughan Scholarship at Virginia Tech for
the 2011-2012 academic year.
Brittany Ralph (Virginia Polytechnic
Institute & State University) is a
member of the student conduct
committee, part of the VT Honor
System. She also participates in the VT
Association and the Ronald McNair Post-
Baccalaureate Program. Brittany is the founding
president of the African American Sisterhood and has
been a summer intern with the Multicultural
Academic Opportunities Program and with Ronald
McNair. Brittany would like to be a biomedical
researcher.
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