UAB Engineering Student One of Four Undergraduates in the Nation to Earn Pfizer Science Fellowship

While some college students are spending their summer visiting family or going on vacation, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) senior biomedical engineering and pre-med major Juanita Titrud is getting first-hand experience researching medications that could one day help the 44 million Americans stricken with osteoporosis.

August 8, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, AL — While some college students are spending their summer visiting family or going on vacation, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) senior biomedical engineering and pre-med major Juanita Titrud is getting first-hand experience researching medications that could one day help the 44 million Americans stricken with osteoporosis.

As one of only four undergraduates in the country selected for participation in the Pfizer Science Fellows Program, she is spending 10 weeks this summer at the Pfizer Global Research and Development facility in Groton, Connecticut, one of the largest biomedical research centers in the world. She is working with leading metabolic researchers exploring medications for people with osteoporosis.

“Being able to experience not only academic research, but research in the pharmaceutical industry as well, has opened my eyes to the wealth of opportunities for dynamic careers in research,” she said. “Now that I have experienced and been a part of the fulfilling work of creating new medicines, I am interested in obtaining a Ph.D. and making research an important part of my future career plans.”

She was chosen for the fellowship by a national selection committee that was made up physician scientists from several leading institutions, including Harvard Medical School, Mayo Clinic and George Washington University.

Along with her internship at Pfizer, Titrud earned a $5,000 grant to continue research throughout her senior year under the direction of mentor Michael McCracken, D.D.S., Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Prosthodontics and Biomaterials at the UAB School of Dentistry and Dr. Hua Zhu Ke, principle research investigator for metabolic diseases at Pfizer Global Research and Development.

During her academic career at UAB, Titrud received academic honors from Alpha Lambda Delta Freshmen Honor Society and earned the McNair Scholarship. She is active on campus as a resident assistant. She also is a member of Tau Beta Pi national engineering honor society, Campus Crusade for Christ and Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority. She has been a hospice volunteer and she participated in a dance marathon fund-raiser for Children's Hospital. She was named Ms. UAB for 2002-2003.

Titrud, 21, is a graduate of LAMP Academic Magnet High School in Montgomery, Alabama and is the daughter of Jeffrey and Elisabeth Titrud.

The Pfizer Science Fellows Program, developed with assistance from Alpha Epsilon Delta, the national premedical honor society and service organization, is designed to nurture and create opportunities for young scientists to explore careers in biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences. It helps foster a deeper interest in biomedical research in undergraduate students and offers them an opportunity to directly experience research opportunities offered by Pfizer.