Students benefit from the Graduate Life Sciences and Professional Programs Summer Expo.

Emily Million wanted to get into the field of medicine since she was a little girl. As a middle school student, watching Bill Nye take plants out of the jungle for kids to study, she was excited about research. The dream of studying medicine stuck with her through her undergraduate studies at Truman State University and into graduate school at Mizzou.

Now, thanks in part to attending MU’s Graduate Life Sciences and Professional Programs Summer Expo, she studies molecular pathogenesis and therapeutics in Dr. Dongsheng Duan’s laboratory.

“It’s the molecular side of disease that focuses on how we treat diseases with various therapeutics,” says Million, a Centralia, Missouri native. “There are a lot of opportunities here at Mizzou. I ended up getting a minor in teaching because I really like to communicate my research.”

This year’s Summer Expo takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Wednesday, July 10, at the Bond Life Sciences Center.

“I learned about three different programs that summer before applying to graduate school,” says Million, who credits Mizzou’s people and facilities for helping her accomplish her goals. “The Summer Expo definitely gets your foot in the door and it helps down the road.”