Thousands of miles from the University of Maine in France’s second largest city, Jordan Miner is working with a global team of researchers to understand how cancer returns in patients after treatment.
Miner, a UMaine Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering, is researching breast cancer cell dormancy in bone marrow at the Cancer Research Center of Lyon. These dormant cells can evade chemotherapy and are a major factor in cancer recurrence and poor prognosis. A deeper understanding of this process could reveal new therapeutic opportunities to prevent relapse in patients.
Miner’s work — part of her dissertation — was made possible after she earned fellowships from two of the most prestigious international research awards available to U.S. students: the Fulbright U.S. Student Program and the STEM Chateaubriand Fellowship.
Outside the lab, Miner is immersing herself in French culture through her love for sports and the outdoors. She is skiing; practicing karate, of which she is a third-degree black belt; attending local events; and exploring the city’s museums, food offerings and historical sites.
When she found out she was a Fulbright finalist, Miner was attending a research conference in Lucca, Italy.
“It was after dinner, and I was chatting with some friends I had met at the conference when I received an email that a notification was posted to my portal. I announced it to the group, and they all gathered around me as I nervously but eagerly logged in to see that I had been accepted,” Miner said. “The entire group celebrated with me and started sharing recommendations of all the amazing things I should experience during my trip abroad.”
At UMaine, Miner is a member of CompuMAINE, overseen by Andre Khalil, professor of biomedical engineering, and associate professor of bioengineering Karissa Tilbury’s lab. She was also a Maine Top Scholar and outstanding graduating student for the Maine College of Engineering and Computing during her undergraduate career.
Miner has been conducting research since her first year of college. The research, which focussed on the potential benefits of electrical stimulation for Duchenne muscular dystrophy using zebrafish models, was in collaboration with professor of biological sciences Clarissa Henry’s lab.
Originally from the small town of East Baldwin, Maine, Miner said that growing up around nature sparked both an adventurous spirit in her and curiosity about the world. When she learned about opportunities to conduct research abroad, she knew it was something she wanted to pursue. After attending an information session about the Fulbright U.S. Student Program hosted by the Office of Major Scholarships in March 2024, she realized this was the perfect path for her.
