Dunn, a biology/pre-med student at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) worked with Ju-ahng Lee, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology and biomedical science at NCCU during the 2019 Summer Scholars Program in Genome Sciences and Medicine. Her summer research project focused on understanding modern engineering technologies and using targeted genome editing with CRISPR/Cas9 in zebrafish.
EMSSP was developed with a consortium of historically black colleges and universities in 1982 to increase diversity in the physician workforce. Since then, the program has expanded to include partnerships with schools that have large Latino and Pacific Island populations.
The program provides an early gradual transition into the medical school curriculum. Undergraduate students accepted into the program will remain at their undergraduate colleges through their junior year, but spend summers taking classes at Boston University. Students spend their senior year at Boston University.