ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ

The is one of the largest communities of underrepresented minorities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ attend this conference to present their research, enhance professional development skills, explore graduate schools, and network.

This year's conference took place November 10-13, 2021. There wer 3,980 registrants, of which 2,045 were community college, undergraduate, and postbaccalaureate students. There were 1,340 e-poster presentations, primarily by undergraduates from across the country. A panel of judges evaluated all the undergraduate poster presentations and selected the best in various scientific disciplines to award 400 students across all disciplines.

From ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ, we had 25 students present their research findings from work on campus or from their off-campus summer internships. Six of the 12 ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ students who earned awards are from the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Jordan Cook – Senior Biochemistry major and Fellow in the NIH Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program – for work titled "Energetically Unfavorable Protein Angles: Exploration of a Conserved Dihedral in Triosephosphate Isomerase" in the lab of Dr. Jason Schwans in the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, CNSM.

Cancer Biology

Nishi Rauth – Senior Biochemistry major and Fellow in the NIH Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program – for work titled "Modulation of the Unfolded Protein Response - A Potential Mechanism Underlying the Chemo-preventive Action of Aspirin" in the lab of Dr. Deepali Bhandari in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, CNSM.

Computational and Systems Biology

Mariana Leyva – Senior Biology major and Scholar in the NIH T34 Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) program– for work titled "The Impact of Increasing Global Temperature on Parasite-host Interactions of the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)" from their summer research experience with Dr. David Karowe (Western Michigan University) and Dr. Jason Price (St. Mary's College of Maryland). At ÃÛÌÒÓ°Ïñ, Mariana does research with her mentor, Dr. Ted Stankowich, in the Department of Biological Sciences, CNSM.

Microbiology

Alexis Guardiola - Senior Microbiology major and Fellow in the NIH Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program – for work titled "Effects of Plant Restoration on Bacterial Communities in a Sediment-Amended Southern ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñSalt Marsh" in the lab of Dr. Jesse Dillon in a collaborative project with Dr. Christine Whitcraft, Department of Biological Sciences, CNSM.

Johann Tailor - Senior Microbiology major and Fellow in the NIH Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) program – for work titled "Utilizing CRISPR/Cas9 to determine the role of clathrin in enhancing HIV-1 Nef-mediated infectivity" in the lab of Dr. Peter Ramirez in the Department of Biological Sciences, CNSM.

Neuroscience

Ryan Weber - Senior Biology major with Molecular Cell Biology and Physiology Option and NIH Fellow in the Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program – for work titled "Sex Differences in Apoptosis-related Gene Expression in the Developing Mouse Cortex and Hippocampus" in the lab of Dr. Houng-Wei Tsai in the Department of Biological Sciences, CNSM.

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Congratulations!

Congratulations to the students, faculty mentors, training program directors, collaborators, Chairs, Deans, and all administrators whose institutional support has led to this amazing student achievement.

Go Beach!