Centre College's Alex Hurley researches at Carnegie Mellon with NSF

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Alex Hurley of St. Charles spent the summer doing research at Carnegie Mellon University as part of the National Science Foundation's Research Experience for Undergraduates.

DANVILLE, KY (09/05/2012)(readMedia)-- Alex Hurley of St. Charles, a junior at Centre College in Danville, Ky., recently completed summer research at Carnegie Mellon University with help and financial support from the National Science Foundation's Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF-REU).

"I am a biology major at Centre and really wanted to find a top-notch research experience for the summer," Hurley says.  "The NSF-REU fund[s] research programs at universities all over America and have a great reputation. I applied to half a dozen of these REUs around the country and found myself accepting the offer from Carnegie Mellon University."

Hurley worked in a proteomics lab at the Mellon Institute studying the structures and functions of proteins. His research looked specifically at Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD), which can cause serious complications for people with rheumatoid arthritis.

"In a nutshell, I was working on a project that sought to find a way to predict the onset of lung diseases in rheumatoid arthritis patients by looking for specific proteins in blood samples," Hurley says. "This involved both working at the bench and analyzing the data we collected, so it was a nice balance."

Learning opportunities outside of the lab gave Hurley a new perspective on his plans for the future.

"The program that I was a part of held weekly seminars designed to give students more information about graduate school and to help them decide if it is right for them. These seminars gave me a lot of perspective on my future decisions," he says. "While I am not entirely sure what I would like to do after Centre, I feel like I will ultimately make a more informed decision with this new knowledge."

Beyond his research, Hurley particularly enjoyed the people he met at Carnegie Mellon.

"The best part of the experience was the research environment. Everyone I met on CMU's campus seemed to be a part of one research project or another, and when I asked them about their work, I was often blown away by the content of their response," Hurley says.

Now back on campus, Hurley credits Centre and his time here with aiding him in finding and being successful in the NSF-REU program.

"The Brown Fellows program helped motivate me to find a find a program such as this and kept me organized along the way," Hurley says. "I am certainly indebted to Centre for preparing me for an opportunity such as this."

Hurley is the son of Jim and Ingrid Hurley of St. Charles and is a graduate of Francis Howell.

Centre College, founded in 1819 and chosen to host its second Vice Presidential Debate in 2012, is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges, at 42nd in the nation, and ranks 27th for best value among national liberal arts colleges. Forbes magazine ranks Centre 34th among all the nation's colleges and universities and has named Centre in the top five among all institutions of higher education in the South for three years in a row. Centre is also ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News for its study abroad program.