Visiting student spends unique summer experience researching COVID-19

Monday, Sep 20, 2021

Nicole Garza spent her summer in a hands-on research internship for undergraduate students funded by the National Institutes of Health at UTA’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation in the Human Neural Cardiovascular Control Laboratory. The program, Short-Term Research Experience Program to Unlock Potential or STEP-UP, is designed with a focus on underrepresented students, provides for a flexible location, and is an opportunity for students to work side-by-side with experienced researchers.

Garza, an undergraduate biology student at the University of Texas at Austin, wanted to work in this lab led by Dr. Paul Fadel, professor in the department of kinesiology, because it would allow her to gain experience with hands-on clinical research.

“What I like about UTA as a research institution is that I was challenged to think like a scientist and perform at a higher level, like graduate students do. That makes for a great experience as an undergraduate,” shared Garza.  “I wasn’t able to get into a lab during the Fall and Spring semester because of the pandemic, so I was really excited to work on this project during the summer.”

The research that Garza took part in was focused on how COVID-19 affects cardiovascular health in young adults. She plans to continue her research during the winter break and hopes to present initial findings at a conference next year.

“It was great to have Nicole in the lab this summer.  She did an excellent job in contributing to our studies and adding to our discussions.” said Fadel.

“The best part of being in this research experience, is working on COVID-19 studies with Dr. Fadel. I’m not just sitting around waiting for the pandemic to end, I’m contributing to upcoming research that will help us understand how people are affected by the virus.” said Garza.

Garza plans to graduate from UT Austin in spring 2022 and go on to study to be a physician assistant. She has a strong interest in the health care field and research, which she plans to continue along that path in her career.