Alexis Brake, undergraduate student in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, was selected to participate in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF).

Alexis Brake is a first-year biomedical engineering student in Dr. Kevin Otto’s lab and is interested in investigating the body’s immune response to neural devices. She is also involved with undergraduate research in the Arts and Medicine Program at UF.

Students in the competitive program are awarded grants to spend 11 weeks in Gaithersburg, Maryland, to conduct research alongside a NIST scientist or engineer. As the lead federal agency for technology transfer, NIST provides a strong interface between government, industry and academia. The institutions embodies a science culture, developed from a large and well-equipped research staff that enthusiastically blends programs that address the immediate needs of industry with longer-term research that anticipates future needs.

Congratulations, Alexis!