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Bailey Lucas has made the most of her experience at The Ohio State University at Marion.

The Delaware resident didn’t foresee earning a Pelotonia Fellowship for her undergraduate cancer research, but she’s sure that the opportunity for that award arose, in great part, due to her decision to attend the regional campus. She’s the first student at Ohio State Marion to receive the fellowship.

Getting the chance to do research under the guidance of Ruben Petreaca, an assistant professor of molecular genetics, is just one way her Ohio State education has enabled her to grow and learn. She recently shared insight into winning the fellowship and how it is setting her up for success.

What was it like to earn a Pelotonia Fellowship?

Realizing how competitive our research is, it is really cool just to know we’re doing a good thing for cancer research.

Can you share some background on your cancer research?

We’re trying to come up with the correct SSA (single-strand annealing) pathway, which pretty much means (researching how), once your DNA breaks in two, how it comes back together correctly. It’s just looking at how double-stranded breaks are repaired. This is important because if you mix up your chromosomes, that’s pretty much what cancer is. Chromosomal abnormalities are what give you cancer.

What has it been like working closely with a faculty researcher like Ruben Petreaca?

He’s been working on this research for a very long time. This is something he’s definitely been very passionate about. I think his enthusiasm is really what keeps everybody locked in and he’s a really good teacher. He really wants you to be able to understand it, so that we’re not just getting bored plating yeast, but that we’re really understanding the science, the importance behind it, what our impact on cancer research really is.

What would you tell high school students trying to decide where to further their education?

Ohio State Marion is amazing, especially for being a science major – I can’t see how you could resist. We have all new labs. Everything is beautiful here. I think that a lot of kids get the stigma that Marion isn’t the same (as the Columbus campus), but it really is. You still get all of the same benefits, and actually more, in my opinion. It’s like going to a private school, but you’re connected to such a large university.