Langston University

(This story was originally published in ‘E Roar Digital Magazine | Vol. 3 Issue 5 on Sept. 11, 2026)

Three Langston University students returned to campus this fall after a summer in the lab, resulting in greater confidence and a deeper understanding of biomedical research.

Shania Blythe, Jasiah Heck and Nojua Malone completed eight-week internships at the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) as part of the OMRF Langston Biomedical Research Scholars program. The program, often referred to as “Langston Scholars,” is a collaboration between OMRF and the university. OMRF scientist Dr. Valerie Lewis, who is also an instructor at LU, helped create the program in 2021.

Bly the is a rising senior majoring in chemistry from Chandler, Arizona. During her second summer as a Langston Scholar, she worked toward developing a new method of analyzing immune cell populations in people with and without post-traumatic stress disorder. She worked under physician-scientist Dr. Hal Scofield, and she said the experience helped prepare her for her post-graduate plans of attending medical school.

“Through this experience, I learned a lot of different lab skills like pipetting and working with human cells,” Blythe said. “Those types of skills will definitely give me a little leverage in medical school because I’ll already have the knowledge on how to do those certain types of things.”

Heck is a senior from Jenks majoring in health, physical education and recreation. He worked in the lab of Dr. Benjamin Miller.

Under Miller’s guidance, he analyzed whether a certain compound increased the rate at which DNA is created in muscle cells. One of the biggest lessons he learned was that “each step you perform in the lab is equally important.” He said the first step in the process is just as important as the last, so he made sure to give his best effort throughout the entire process.

While Heck plans to study physical therapy when he graduates, but he said this internship experience was invaluable because it helped him realize he has options.

“This experience has broadened my horizons to the different paths available in the scientific world,” Heck said.

A sophomore nursing major from Frisco, Texas, Malone was the youngest of this summer’s Langston Scholars. Before her arrival, she said she was considering a professor’s suggestion to switch majors from nursing to biology. She viewed the internship as a chance to see how a biology degree might translate into a career.

In the lab of Dr. Chris Sansam, Malone studied a newly discovered relationship between two genes linked to cancer.

“My experience gave me a glimpse of a scientist’s life,” Malone said. “The hard days when the experiments don’t work and the triumphant days when you finally see some results.”

Dr. Ashley Cheyney, OMRF’s director of scientific training and outreach, providing students with invaluable hands-on experiences like this is part of OMRF’s mission.

“Training future scientists is one of OMRF’s six core values, which highlights the importance we place on our internship programs,” Dr. Cheyney said. “At the end of the summer, our Langston Scholars often tell us how their experience provided direction on their future career path. We are excited to see where that path leads for these students.”

The Langston Scholars program is open to rising sophomores through rising seniors who attend Langston University, preferably pursuing degrees in biology, chemistry, mathematics or related fields. Following their internship, Langston Scholars often continue to work in OMRF’s labs during the school year.

The application process opens Oct. 1 for next summer’s program. For more information, go to omrf.org/Langston.