CAS Student Gets Research Experience Abroad

Zach Venn didn’t have to go to college far away from home to find worldwide opportunities.

Originally from Omaha, Venn set his sights on the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) for its closeness to his local community and affiliations with the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). With aspirations of one day pursuing an MD/PhD program, he knew UNO’s physical proximity to UNMC would help him create connections with the Nebraska medical community – but what he didn’t expect was that he’d also be building his professional network thousands of miles away.

When Venn's professor reached out and encouraged him to apply for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Toyohashi University program that would place him in Japan for the summer, Venn was struck by the serendipity of the situation. The opportunity felt like it was made for him — as a chemistry major with minors in biology and Japanese, it perfectly aligned to his core academic passions.

With prior research experience at UNMC under his belt, as well as some words of encouragement from his professor, Venn applied – and was accepted. Before he knew it, he was flying 6,000 miles away to Toyohashi, Japan, for a summer in a new country, new culture, new university and new laboratory.

Outside of his days spent in the lab working to develop a new device for detecting pathogens, Venn traveled Japan and put his language skills to work while exploring the country he had long revered since childhood.

With UNO as his connection point, Venn has been able to branch out beyond what he knew was possible. He’s built international relationships and gained irreplaceable experience learning and working alongside research scientists. As he charts his career pathand continues through his final UNO courses, he knows these connections and experiences will be invaluable as he pursues his dreams of becoming a physician scientist.

“[UNO is] sort of this huge network where if you want to do something, UNO can either provide it or help you find the resources to find that program for you,” Venn said.