CeCe Allen

There were two constants in CeCe Allen’s home when she was growing up in Woburn: science magazines and the sound of trumpets.

“I come from a big science family; my dad loved reading Nature and all those science magazines. And everyone in my family plays trumpet,” Allen says.

As a biology major and Honors College student, Allen is pursuing both scientific inquiry and musical performance.

In the Kennedy College of Sciences, she works as an undergraduate research assistant in Assistant Professor Teresa Lee’s lab, studying C. elegans — tiny worms that help scientists understand how genes are regulated. 

Since joining the lab as a first-year student, Allen has spent her summers immersed in molecular biology research, counting worm populations, performing fertility assays and analyzing data that contributes to the kind of scientific papers that she used to see on the coffee table as a kid.

“I’ve counted way more worms than I ever thought I would, but the payoff is amazing,” she says. “I’m generating real data that will be used in real science that has real effects.”

Allen’s research focuses on chromatin packaging, a process essential to DNA stability.

“If that process is disrupted in humans, it can cause cancer,” she explains. “So if we can figure out how it works in worms, it could have really important implications.”

In addition to receiving a Science Scholars award from the Kennedy College to support her summer work, Allen has earned the Kennedy Family Merit Scholarship and an Honors Fellowship.

“I’m so grateful for that support,” she says. “It lets me stay here, keep doing science and not have to choose between earning money and doing what I love.”

Outside the lab, Allen plays trumpet in the UMass Lowell Marching Band, continuing the family tradition that served as an introduction to the campus. As a high school student, Allen attended UMass Lowell’s Symphonic Band Camp, where she met musicians and instructors who made the university feel like home.

“It felt very comfortable here. I knew the people and the buildings like the back of my hand,” says Allen, whose older sister, MiLa, is a mathematics major in the Kennedy College. “I looked at other schools, but I always knew I was going to attend UMass Lowell.”

Looking ahead, Allen plans to pursue a Ph.D. in genetics — something that she once doubted she was capable of.

“I didn’t know if I was smart enough, if I had enough work ethic, and I was so wrong,” she says. “Now, I know I can do it.”

While she’s still deciding between a career in academia and industry, Allen feels prepared for either path.

“UMass Lowell has helped me design my future,” she says. “I’ve realized what could be possible for me.”