Milica Barac graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2024 with a degree in bioengineering. This year, she is one of nine students who have been accepted into Mayo Clinic’s prestigious Medical Scientist Training Program in Rochester, Minnesota. The combined M.D. and Ph.D. training prepares students to be leaders in both clinical medicine and in scientific research to significantly impact the future of medicine and science.
“My goal is to become a physician scientist, and I feel incredibly fortunate that I will receive my training through the Medical Scientist Training Program here at Mayo Clinic,” Milica said.
As an Illinois undergraduate, Milica worked in Prof. Andrew Smith’s lab investigating the anti-inflammatory effect of drug combinations in macrophages – immune cells that live in human tissues. She was selected to participate in the Mayo Clinic Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program in both 2022 and 2023 under the mentorship of Dr. Arjun Athreya, also an Illinois alum. As a SURF, she worked on a variety of research projects involving digital health technologies, machine learning, and personalized medicine. These experiences taught Milica to be curious and eager to work with others, and she began developing her love for research and collaboration to solve important problems.
Shortly after graduating, Milica began a post-baccalaureate research position at Mayo Clinic, dedicating her time to developing her research skills with a variety of clinical and research mentors. Currently, she is exploring how multi-omics integration can be used to understand environmental drivers and their metabolic implications within certain rare liver diseases.
“As a student here [at Mayo Clinic], I have had the opportunity to shadow physicians in any specialty I have been interested in, gain mentorship from exceptional scientists, and present my research at both national and international conferences,” Milica said. “The strength and benefit of being in an environment built to facilitate collaboration cannot be understated.”
Milica is one of 145 Illini who have participated in an undergraduate research program at Mayo Clinic with support from the Mayo Clinic & Illinois Alliance for Technology-Based Healthcare. The Alliance prioritizes education and training to develop the next generation of healthcare innovators who will continue to revolutionize patient care.
This summer, eighteen Illinois undergraduate students are participating in three 10-week research programs at Mayo Clinic, including SURF, the Health Equity Research Experience (HERE), and the Clinical Research Internship Study Program (CRISP). They will work on a variety of projects with researchers and clinical teams at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Florida, and Minnesota, engaging in many of the opportunities and experiences that led Milica to where she is today.
“Mayo Clinic is a world leader in translational research, and it has been incredible to learn about the work happening across all campuses,” she said.