INDIANA, Pa. — Erin Himes, a biochemistry major at Indiana University of Pennsylvania from Altoona, was selected to participate in IUP’s U-SOAR program.

U-SOAR, or Undergraduate Summer Opportunities for Applying Research, is a 10-week summer program that allows selected undergraduate students, working with a faculty mentor, to do original, inquiry-based research or creative endeavors, with a number of enrichment programs related to research success.

It is open to students in all disciplines who are academically qualified, but students must be chosen for the program through an application process.

Himes, daughter of Patrick and Diane Himes, is a graduate of Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic High School. She is the recipient of the 2025 IUP Scholars Forum Outstanding Poster Award. She is vice president of the American Chemical Society at IUP.

Her project is “Identifying and Testing Small Molecule Inhibitors for Receptor A,” which will use computational docking studies to identify various ligands with promising binding attributes, which will be used in HRMS studies. Her faculty mentor is Dr. Justin Fair in the Madia Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics.

In addition to their individual research projects, students in the U-SOAR program attend presentations and seminars including “AI Tools for Researchers,” “Introduction to Data Analysis,” “Introduction to STEAMSHOP,” a research panel discussion with students who have completed U-SOAR during previous summers, and workshops on poster presentations and resume writing.

The culminating event for U-SOAR is the Research Symposium will be held on Aug. 20, which is open to all members of the IUP community.