Neumann’s reputation has long been built on the success of its nursing program and the professional work of its alumni. Recently, the biology program has also been gaining extraordinary recognition and broadening the university’s credibility in the field of health sciences.

 Nikolria Grant, a junior biology major, was selected to pursue undergraduate research as part of the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine's Short-Term Educational Experiences for Research (STEER) Program this summer.

“I was amazed that I was selected,” confessed Nikolria. “There are only six people in the program this year.”

The West Philadelphia native is interested in research regarding the effect of environment on children with developmental disorders (think of the lead crisis in Flint, Michigan) and wants to become a developmental pediatrician and pursue a master’s degree in public health.

Nikolria was matched with a mentor and has begun her research. “I am working in Dr. Jongen’s lab in the Genetics Department at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania,” she writes. “I will be studying altered signaling pathways in a Drosophila model of Fragile X syndrome. My studies will investigate the cause of altered metabolism, weight, longevity and circadian regulation. I am testing the effects of the altered signaling on phenotypes between the mutant (dfmr1) flies and control flies.”