Year-Long Undergraduate Cell Biology-Based Data-Driven Literature Review Research Experiences That Successfully...

During the COVID pandemic, not only were the apprenticeship-style research opportunities limited but course-linked laboratories transitioned to using online components. Moreover, laboratory research experiences for undergraduates can be associated with high costs and restricted space availability. To tackle these challenges and to broadly engage students in research to support them in an array of career paths, efforts were made to develop a data-driven literature review research experience that begins as a CURE in a high-enrollment Cell Biology course (first phase) and continues through two additional (Summer-Fall) semesters (second and third phases, which model apprenticeship-style research experiences). The first iteration of this experience was implemented in 2022, followed by two others in subsequent years. These year-long research experiences resulted in successful conference presentations and peer-reviewed publication outcomes. The research experiences are built on the foundation of selected topics from Cell Biology content, placed into the context of human diseases. The implementation strategy and tools that were developed are being shared, along with a detailed account of each iteration. The goal of this paper is to share the experiences so that the platform can be utilized by other educators who are interested in implementing similar year-long research experiences that may lead to publication outcomes. We expect that such research experiences could build undergraduate interest in the scientific process and could be extended to other research components. Finally, students may become interested in engaging in additional future research experiences and/or pursuing research-based careers.