Nina Price, '23

November 9, 2020
Opportunity allows sophomore to contribute to the medical field
In the spring of 2020, sophomore, Nina Price, was accepted into Cincinnati Children’s Hospital’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, a formal paid internship that allows students to conduct clinical, translational, and basic science research. She had interned with the hospital previously and was looking forward to continuing her work. 


Unfortunately, when the pandemic hit, SURF was cancelled. But, luckily, Price was able to take advantage of a UR Summer Fellowship and participate in her internship remotely. When asked how she navigated the virtual environment, especially with research, an experience that typically benefits from being in person and hands-on, she said that although communication was a bit trickier, she and the team met weekly to discuss their progress and elicit feedback.

“It was a bit of an adjustment because I had worked in the department before in person, but my mentors were very committed to working with me remotely and helped me build a strong research study and abstract,” said Price.

In spite of the hurdles before her, not only was she able to continue her experience, but she became a published researcher.

Price’s research focused on multi-organ transplantation involving the heart. Her abstract entitled, “Congenital Heart Disease and a Single Lung: Is Heart Transplantation Alone an Option” was published in the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation. This summer, she compared and analyzed patients’ pre- and post-transplant demographics and outcomes using statistical software to continue her research and create the full manuscript, which she hopes will be published in the future.

And, her advice to other students interested in research? “I would advise students to make sure they are genuinely interested in the research they are conducting to ensure that it is meaningful to them and to build strong relationships with their mentors, who can be excellent resources for advice and guidance.”

Learn more about UR Summer Fellowships.