[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 108 (Tuesday, August 4, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            GEANNCARLO LUGO--THE FUTURE OF MEDICAL RESEARCH

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 4, 1998

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and Colleagues, I rise before you today to 
praise Geanncarlo Lugo from my district who recently completed the 
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Undergraduate Scholarship Program 
for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds (UGSP). The NIH 10-week 
summer research program is open only to scholars who have either a 3.5 
grade point average or are in the top 5 percent of their class. To be 
eligible, candidates must also be committed to pursuing a career in 
biomedical research. The UGSP was set up for students who might not 
traditionally have research training opportunities. It was designed to 
improve access to undergraduate education that leads to careers in 
biomedical research, and to nurture scholarship recipients' interest in 
the NIH for their research training after graduation.
  Geanncarlo is only one of 24 scholars selected in a nationwide 
competition for this prestigious program, and his journey to NIH this 
summer has been a long one. He put himself through Southwestern College 
and then San Diego State University (SDSU), even working on 
immunological research at the Scripps Research Institute while 
attending school. He graduated from SDSU with his bachelor's degree in 
molecular and cellular biology and plans to pursue his doctorate in 
immunology at the University of California at Berkeley, where he has 
been accepted. But first, he will spend a year at NIH, continuing his 
immunological studies and repaying his debt to the federal government 
for his participation in the program.
  With scholars like Geanncarlo Lugo as the future of our biomedical 
research community, I am confident that many of our immunological 
mysteries will be solved.

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