Marvin Rodriguez Chosen to Participate in SUNY Brain Summer Scholars Program

2014 Jun 5

SUNY Oneonta junior Marvin Rodriguez of Greenport, NY, has been selected to participate in the first SUNY Brain Summer Scholars Program, part of the SUNY Brain Network of Excellence.

Rodriguez, a computer science major and mathematics minor, is one of 13 students selected from throughout the SUNY system to take part in the new program. Research conducted by students this summer will support President Obama's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, which aims to increase understanding of how the brain works in order to develop new ways to treat, cure, and even prevent brain disorders.

"The SUNY Networks of Excellence allow us to offer students unique opportunities like the Summer Scholars Program, where they will be on the cutting edge of new research and innovation that has the potential to transform highly-specialized fields such as neuroscience," said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. "Congratulations to this first class of Summer Scholars and thank you to the SUNY faculty across New York who will work alongside our students and ensure the program's success."

"As a leader in neuroscience study, SUNY can play a primary role in building the pipeline of future researchers," said Dr. Timothy Killeen, Research Foundation for SUNY president and SUNY vice chancellor for research. "The SUNY Brain Summer Scholars Program provides a necessary and focused platform to attract undergraduates with aptitude in physics, computation, engineering and mathematics to the rapidly expanding field of neuroscience."

Students were selected for the program from more than 70 applicants based on criteria such as faculty recommendation, academic transcripts and a personal statement of interest. The students will conduct hands-on research that supports the work of SUNY Brain faculty at the University at Albany, Binghamton University, University at Buffalo, Stony Brook University and Upstate Medical University.

SUNY Brain is one of five SUNY Networks of Excellence establish to increase research collaborations and spur commercialization activities between SUNY and industry partners in core research areas. The others are SUNY 4E, SUNY Health, and SUNY Materials, Advanced Manufacturing, and SUNY Arts and Humanities.