Dr. Terence Thomas Scholarship recipient Jerrell Lovett is 26 years young. He is a Milwaukee native and proud alumnus of Riverside University High School and Marquette University. Between both of his parents, he has 15 siblings. Jerrell’s father has ten other children, and his mother has five others. He says he feels blessed to have such a large family. Most of Jerrell’s life was spent with his mom in a house of six (at the time). His mother relied on pre-college and mentorship programs to keep Jerrell out of the troubled neighborhood where they lived. His interest in science was fostered by the Marquette Upward Bound Math and Science Program during his sophomore year of high school. At the time, he had a general interest in the role that eating, and exercise habits had on physical health. He was inspired to attend college because his family had multiple diseases ranging from autoimmune diseases to cardiometabolic disorders. Although genetic factors play a role, he believes extrinsic factors like eating habits, physical activity, and lifestyle choices have a greater contribution to disease. This inspired Jerrell to study physiological science at Marquette to understand how systems work.
While at Marquette, he gained a lot of research experience surrounding muscle biology. Jerrell’s mentor, Robert Fitts had a great interest in studying muscle cells on a cross-bridge level in various context. In other words, he was interested in looking at the molecular level where muscle contraction occurs. From his studies at Marquette, Jerrell earned a publication entitled “Contractility of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Cardiomyocytes with an MYH6 Head Domain Variant associated with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome”. In this study they collaborated with the Medical College of Wisconsin to study myofilament function in cardiomyocyte stem cells developed from skin cells isolated from infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and the unaffected parent. The long- term goal was to understand how MYH6 variant alters cardiac function which could lead to development of effective biological therapies. During his final semester at Marquette, Jerrell continued with this line of inquiry and developed an independent project that examined the cardioprotective effects of regular exercise training on heart function using Langendroff perfusion system.
Jerrell continued to explore his interest in muscle biology when he joined Medical College of Wisconsin’s Physiology Ph.D program. He joined the lab of Caitlin O’Meara, who has a general interest in identifying novel mechanisms of cardiac regeneration after heart attack. Jerrell’s project aims to look at the role of a protein called lethal giant larvae protein homologue 1 (Llgl1) in cardiac development and its role in mediating a regenerative response after cardiac injury. These studies have clinical significance because there is a lack of knowledge of how newly regenerated heart muscle cells or transplanted cells reintegrate into the functional myocardium. Jerrell’s success in progressing the field’s knowledge in heart regeneration has led him to present at multiple conferences. This past March, he was invited to present his research and give a talk in Long Beach California. He received a distinguished abstract in muscle biology award for my research.
After he finishes his Ph.D., he envisions being a Medical Scientist Liaison temporarily with the long-term goal of working in Healthcare Administration. He wants to have a say on how policy is being implemented on a larger scale, which will affect underrepresented groups. Beyond his career in Science, he has a long-term goal to educate, inspire, and empower other black youth to discover and achieve their purpose through a three-layered generational program. This program will consist of members from e.g baby-boomers, his own generation, and Gen Z. The goal will be to create Black Professionals through mentorship and representation. There will be a constant flow of knowledge throughout these generational groups so that Black people are not starting at a disadvantage. They will have similar resources as their counterparts when it’s time to attend post-secondary education for example.
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