Published on May 3, 2021

Dominique (Nicki) Joseph  is a senior double majoring in Biological Sciences and German. She has a passion for scientific research. In her freshman year, Nicki joined MU’s Initiative for Maximizing Student Diversity (IMSD), which allowed her to begin conducting research as a first-year student. Currently, Nicki works in a Biochemistry lab under Dr. Charlotte Phillips, researching the interactions between muscles and bone as they relate to brittle bones disease. Nicki is a member of the Tri-Beta biological honors society and MARC/IMSD research program. In September 2019, Nicki won her first poster presentation award at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students. Since then, she has presented her work seven times and has won two national presentation awards. She has also spent a year and a half mentoring other minority students in STEM and is passionate about her role as a mentor. As a MARC scholar, she has enjoyed bonding and growing with other underrepresented individuals in STEM and aims to continue supporting other minority students as a mentor in graduate school. After graduation, Nicki will attend the Ohio State University to pursue her PhD in Entomology. She aims to research insects and vector borne diseases at the Center for Disease Control one day.