Jul 25, 2008 -- Eleven Yeshiva University (YU) undergraduate science students are spending the summer doing research with top scientific scholars at the University’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. “The nine students in the Roth Scholars program and the two students in the University Summer Research Scholars program are paired with scientists at Einstein to gain experience conducting cutting-edge scientific research,” said Barry Potvin, PhD, professor of biology at YU and chairperson of the Roth Summer Research Fellowship Committee. The annual ten-week program, sponsored by the Ernst and Hedwig Roth Institute of Biomedical Science Education at Yeshiva University, provides each student with a stipend and campus housing. “Each program has its own funding, and both allow undergraduate science students the chance to experience high-level research,” Dr. Potvin said. The students work in teams alongside graduate and post-doctoral students. The students include Chanie Dinerman (Staten Island), Yehudit Fischer (Monsey), Reena Gottesman (Teaneck), David Gottlieb (Fair Lawn), Ari Greenbaum (Hamilton, OT), Batya Matla Herzberg (Woodmere), Ariella Hollander (West Orange), Wendy Hosinking (Queens), David Pinn (Lawrence), Tehilla Raviv (Queens), and Yossi Steinberger (Monsey). “YU has provided an environment where I can nurture my intellectual curiosity, particularly in the sciences,” said Herzberg, who is conducting research in malaria using rodent models. “It has provided me with role models in many areas, allowing me the opportunity to consult, discuss, and assess academic and other decisions.” According to Dr. Potvin, although most of the students are considering medical careers, this experience often piques their interest in research, and spurs them to apply to MD/PhD programs. Each year a few of the students continue their research at Einstein, or use the experience as a way to form professional relationships with other researchers so they can participate in similar work at labs closer to YU’s midtown Beren Campus or its Wilf Campus in Washington Heights. Tehilla Raviv, who is researching protein structure changes, praised YU’s Stern College for Women for its help and support. “Stern has given us a supportive environment in which to mature and grow as scientists, as well as people. I credit a great deal of my success to having attended Stern College.”