University News

Saffold Receives UNCF/Merck Science Undergraduate Research Award

Creighton Arts and Sciences junior Jonathan Robert Saffold of Papillion, Neb., received a $25,000 Undergraduate Science Research Award from the United Negro College Fund/Merck Science Initiative this spring. The Creighton student is one of only 15 undergraduates in the country who were chosen for the award.

“Jonathan is a hard-working student who puts much thought into his research,” said Eric Haas, Ph.D., his research mentor and assistant professor of chemistry at Creighton. As often happens with bright students, many options presented themselves to Saffold when he graduated from high school halfway around the world, Yokota High School on Yokota Air Force Base in Japan.

The son of a civilian employed by the U.S. Department of Defense, Saffold entered MIT as a freshman, majoring in computer science and engineering. But he found the field less interesting to him than he had hoped and became focused on medicine and medical research.

So, Saffold said, when his parents moved from Japan to Papillion, he decided to transfer to Creighton, “to be closer to my family and possibly attend Creighton for medical school.”

Saffold found his niche at Creighton. “I’ve realized that I’m more interested in chemistry than medicine and would like to do research that has biomedical implications.”

And that’s where the UNCF/Merck award will really help.

Worth up to $25,000 for his senior year, the award also provides Saffold with two summer internships at Merck Research Labs this year and next.

Now, he said, he doesn’t “have to take out any loans this year, which is always good. I also get the chance to intern at a Merck Research Lab, which will be pretty cool since I’d like to one day be involved in organic synthesis and drug design.” Each of these positions will pay him $10,000.

Best of all, Saffold has learned he will be working with a research group on an Alzheimer’s disease project, which will afford him the perfect chance to hone his interests.

How did Saffold get bitten by the research bug? The Creighton student says teachers along the way have spurred his interests and encouraged his talents.

“I first became interested in chemistry in high school, and my teacher Ms. Karen Lund initially influenced me.”

And so have his Creighton professors. In fact, Creighton has been recognized nationally for the quality of and opportunities for undergraduate research in the sciences.

“Dr. Martin Hulce has inspired me because I enjoyed taking his organic chemistry class, and I, too, would one day like to be a professor of organic chemistry.” Saffold also said his research project with Haas is another example.

“Jonathan will not let stumbling blocks, which are a common occurrence in research, deter him from pursuing his research goals,” Haas believes.

“He has already gone well beyond passive participation to actively suggesting experiments that we hope to carry out in the lab.”