Symia Taimuty-Loomis

A Butler County student at Indiana University of Pennsylvania has been selected for the school’s Justice Research Fellowship program.

Symia Taimuty-Loomis, a psychology major from Mars, was selected for the program, offered through the IUP Administration and Leadership Studies Research and Training Center, after a competitive application process. She is part of the third cohort of students in the program.

Taimuty-Loomis, a member of the IUP Cook Honors College, is a 2021 graduate of Mars Area High School. She participated in the 2024 Undergraduate Summer Opportunities for Applied Research program, expanding her research on the effect of psilocybin and ketamine for mental health disorder symptoms, and was selected for additional funding for her work by the IUP Libraries.

She was selected as the top research poster presenter during the 2024 IUP-Indiana Regional Medical Center’s third annual Pennsylvania Mountains Rural Health Conference. She is the vice president of Collegiate Women in Progress and is a member of the IUP Ambassadors Student-Alumni Association and Psi Chi National Honors Society in Psychology.

She is in the Psychology Honors Program, is a department of biology research assistant, an applied research lab research assistant, peer educator for the Haven Project, Welcome Week volunteer and Welcome Week head leader.

The Justice Research Fellows program offers students the opportunity to participate in “real life” practical mini-research projects with IUP faculty during winter and spring 2025 semesters. Students will be immersed in activities of IUP’s Administration and Leadership Studies Research and Training Center faculty currently positioned at the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency in Harrisburg and will travel to attend training and experiential learning opportunities.

Students must hold junior or senior student status to be nominated and may be studying in any major. Nominations must come from faculty members.