JMU senior participates in prestigious medical research

A JMU senior completed medical research this summer in a highly competitive program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. 

Aubrey Grove, a senior health sciences major, studied how the energy-making process in cells, known as mitochondrial respiration, influences the behavior of vascular smooth muscle cells. These cells can “switch” their roles when under stress from conditions like atherosclerosis, heart attacks, or coronary artery disease. Grove’s work focused on altering certain genes to better understand why these changes happen and how they contribute to cardiovascular disease.  

Grove was one of only 15 students selected from a national applicant pool of more than 700. 

“I grew a lot this summer in simply believing that I could do the hard science that I was so nervous about,” Grove said of her participation in the summer undergraduate research program in the department of developmental and molecular biology and the Wilf Family Cardiovascular Institute. 

Inspired by the program, Grove now plans to pursue a career as a physician with a possible post-doctorate focus on pediatric biomedical research.