Staff Writer

While many teenagers may look forward to a summer away from schoolwork, Allison Saunders wants nothing more than to be surrounded by science.

The Cheverus High School senior says she is passionate about science and medical research, so the opportunity to spend the summer in a university lab was perfect.

Saunders, 17, is part of a new University of New England summer program that aims to introduce seven Maine students to the connection between medicine, research and entrepreneurship. The two high school and five college students work alongside University of New England undergraduate mentors and faculty from the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences.

Saunders, of Saco, last year attended a summer academy in genomics at the Mount Desert Island Biological Lab where she extracted DNA to see if it metabolized medication. She was eager to find another opportunity to propel her closer to her goal to attend medical school.

Saunders said her interest in medical research is inspired by two friends with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. She would like to find innovated cures or treatments for the disease. She said it is hard to watch her friends lose motor skills as the disease progresses.

“It’s really sad. They’re just incredible boys who have inspired me to do something with my life,” she said.

The program has allowed Saunders to meet and work with “incredible” scientists and learn more about what a future in the field will be like, she said.

“I’m really lucky to have this opportunity to work,” Saunders said.

The program was developed by Dr. Ed Bilsky, director of the Center for Excellence in the Neurosciences and professor of pharmacology in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. He also is co-founder of two Maine-based companies that are developing treatments for chronic pain and addiction.

Bilsky said the 11-week program  shows interns how discoveries made in the university’s laboratories are being developed as potential treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders. Students also will study the principles of neuroscience and pharmacology, translational biomedical research and entrepreneurship.

Bilsky said the idea for the program came from conversations with his business partner, David Anderson.

“He had this vision of infusing more entrepreneurship into the undergraduate curriculum,” he said. “We wanted to provide a different type of experience than the traditional lab-based research we provide our students.”

The interns each contacted Bilsky about summer opportunities and he invited them to participate in the first summer of the program. They spend nearly 40 hours each week at the university and will develop a capstone project to present at the end of the program.

Anderson said it is important for students to learn about both science and business. He said students are doing the same things entrepreneurs do such as write grants and proposals and work collaboratively with other people.

“A good science researcher is basically an entrepreneur,” he said. “Our goal is for students to better understand what it takes to successfully identify a problem, come up with potential solutions and then bring the concept through the development process to the point that it can benefit society.”

Evan Shuris, a 17-year-old senior at Kennebunk High School, said the program allows him to experience a new aspect of science while debating what he wants to do in the future.

 “I think this is  a great way to expose people to all different facets of the medical community,” he said.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.