Notre Dame alum picked for notable university research program

2015 graduate says his Notre Dame experience already paying dividends.

Logan Verheyen, a 2015 graduate of Notre Dame Preparatory School, has been selected as a Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) research scholar for 2016. The program is for Saint Louis University (St. Louis, Mo.) students enrolled in the university's Parks College and includes summer undergraduate research positions in both engineering and aviation research. 

“This was a highly competitive process, with about eighty applications received for the fifteen available slots,” said SLU’s SURE coordinator Raymond P. Lebeau, Jr., Ph.D., in a letter notifying Verheyen of his acceptance into the program. He said the SURE program is 10 weeks long, beginning on May 16 and ending July 22, 2016, and each student is required to spend 40 hours per week during those 10 weeks to complete their project.  

Already well into the program, Verheyen said among a number of other things he will be studying will be the effects of macromolecular crowding on collagen deposition for in-vitro tissue engineering. 

“The use of macromolecules resembles the natural environment in which collagen-producing cells live,” Verheyen added. “This stimulates faster growth than would be attained through simple in-lab growth.”

Currently at SLU studying biomedical engineering, Verheyen said he found out about the SURE program during a search for summer programs at the university. “I applied to the program to explore my interests in research and to get some hands-on lab experience,” he said.

During his summer program, Verheyen will be under the tutelage of Dr. Natasha Case, an assistant professor in the biomedical engineering department at SLU’s Parks College. She said those students working with her will be evaluating collagen failure in soft orthopaedic tissues.

“Collagens are a critical component in the extracellular matrix of orthopaedic tissues,” she said. “Acute soft tissue damage from trauma or sports injuries can result in disruption of the collagen fibers, yet little is known about the process of collagen failure. As a first step in studying collagen failure this summer, soft tissue explants will be subjected to various modes of controlled damage and then effects on collagen structure will be evaluated using a combination of histological and biochemical methods, along with microscopy techniques.”

Meanwhile, now a full year removed from his high school experience at Notre Dame, Verheyen said it’s more than enough time to realize how valuable that experience was to him.

“One of the biggest things I learned from NDP was to pursue many and various interests,” he said. “Though med school is currently my goal, I also have explored research and device development through my major. Doing so has helped me to define specific passions that I intend to pursue during my career. This is a skill I picked up after experiencing all the diverse classes, clubs, and sports offered at Notre Dame Prep.”


Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.

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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy

Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." The Marist Fathers and Brothers sponsor NDPMA's Catholic identity and manages its educational program. Notre Dame is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools, the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.



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