Student Achievements and Awards

ANNA ZIMINA

Recipient of the Wallace Prescott Rowe Award

Lab: Dr. George Belov (AGNR-Vet Med)

Project Title: Development of Anti-Enterovirus Vaccines Based on mRNA and Viral Vector Technologies

BISI Specialization: Comparative Biomedical Sciences (CBSC)

Dr. Belov’s comments: “Anna came to my lab as an undergraduate student and now she is finishing her PhD project on the development of new vaccines against enterovirus infections. During this time she grew up from a shy undergrad to a confident researcher who can work on multiple projects and organize important collaborations. She developed and optimized novel immunological and virological assays that open new perspectives in addressing research questions far beyond her own studies. She is never afraid of starting new directions and her curiosity and dedication help her overcome any problem she encounters in her research. Not only she works hard in the lab, but she is also a leader of the graduate student committee of our Department, responsible among many other activities for the organization of informal happy hour meetings ever popular among students and faculty alike.”

CHRISTINA  IPPOLITI 

Recipient of the Isabel R. McDonald Service Award

Lab: Dr. Zhongchi Liu

Project Title: Understanding a MYB Transcription Factor’s Role in Endosperm and Fruit Development; Bypassing Tissue Culture for a More Efficient Genetic Transformation Method in Strawberry

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. Liu’s comments: “Christina is passionate about servicing our local and broader communities. She helped organize the 2022 UMD Plant Biology Symposium, designed an educational booth for Maryland Day, helped BISI recruitment, and organized volunteering activities to clean up our environment.  She is a doer and influencer and thus highly deserving of this recognition.”

HUSAN TURDIEV

Recipient of the Carroll E. Cox Award

Lab: Dr. Caren Chang 

Project Title: Investigating ACC functions and mechanisms of ACC homeostasis in Arabidopsis

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. Chang’s comments: “Husan is an excellent graduate student. He's well-read, enthusiastic, hard-working, and productive. With his exceptional talents at the bench, he is advancing on several impactful projects centered around the plant hormone ethylene. Husan developed his thesis proposal by identifying critical questions in the plant hormone field after immersing himself in the literature and analyzing puzzling findings he obtained from several challenging experiments. What is particularly impressive is that Husan dove into plant research only recently. Also, thanks to Husan, the Chang lab has never been cleaner or more organized!”

AKSHAY PATEL

Recipient of the Andrew J. Moyer Outstanding Graduate Student Award

Lab: Dr. Sougata Roy

Project Title: Characterizing the mechanisms of asymmetric signaling in the stem cell niche

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. Roy’s comments: “Akshay is an outstanding budding scientist. He started his research in my lab as an undergraduate student and contributed to a genome editing team project, generating cell/tissue-specific gene expression drivers in Drosophila. From this experience, Akshay developed a strong interest in exploring intricate cell-cell signaling mechanisms essential for tissue development and homeostasis and pursued his Ph.D. research in my lab. During this time, he established a Drosophila stem cell niche as a new system to explore cell-cell signaling mechanisms required to maintain adult stem cells and/or trigger their differentiation to sculpt ordered tissue architectures. His terrific effort to characterize the new stem cell niche by combining genetics, molecular biology, and high-resolution microscopy led to the discovery of a novel cell biological mechanism that coordinates niche-specific asymmetric signaling and cellular organizations. Given the conservation of fundamental biological mechanisms in all organisms, Akshay's work provides significant insights into how stem cells are maintained in the context of a signaling niche and lose immortality for differentiation in a highly ordered fashion to sculpt complex tissue architectures.”

SAHAR VAKILI

Co-Recipient of the Philip J. Provost Graduate Fellowship Award

Lab: Dr. Kan Cao 

Project Title: Investigation of senescence-mediated paracrine signaling in progeria vasculature

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. Cao’s comments: “Sahar distinguishes herself from her fellow graduate students in the BISI program through her remarkable blend of significant prior research exposure and a fervent interest in teaching and presenting. She aims to become an adept scientist who can conduct, formulate, and elucidate wet-lab biological research, culminating in an independent academic profession. Sahar's project revolves around comprehending the communication mechanisms between vascular cells in progeria and aging. She has exceptional organizational skills and a firm grasp of stem cell culture methodologies. Additionally, she fosters a collaborative environment within the laboratory.”

JESSICA KOPEW

Co-Recipient of the Philip J. Provost Graduate Fellowship Award

Lab: Dr. Daniel Stein 

Project Title: The Role of Filamentous Phage in Neisseria gonorrhoeae pathogenicity

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. Stein’s comments: “Jessica has embraced all aspects of graduate education.  She has quickly mastered the microbiology, bioinformatic and molecular biology skills needed for her project.  She has excelled as a teaching assistant (being recognized as a CMNS outstanding teaching assistant), and used these teaching opportunities to broaden her scientific base.  Her ability to acquire proficiency in a very diverse set of technologies and enthusiasm for teaching bodes very well as she develops into an independent scientist.”

PHILIP JOHNSON

Recipient of the Michael J. Pelczar Graduate Award

Lab: Dr. Anne Simon

Project Title: Studying the RNA structural biology and novel replication processes of positive-strand RNA plant virus genomes

BISI Specialization: Computational Biology, Bioinformatics and Genomics (CBBG)

Dr. Simon’s comments: “Eleven years ago, I noticed a shy Freshman from my Intro Bio class was attending all of my early group office hours without ever saying a word.  I remember wondering if this student was understanding the material, as it was rare for a student to come and say nothing.  And then, this freshman received an extremely rare 100% on the first midterm, and again on the second midterm, and I realized that this student was someone very special.  When Philip asked if he could be an undergraduate researcher in the lab, I gave him an immediate and enthusiastic YES, and so began our long research relationship.  Philip went from pre-med, to pre-MD-PhD, to pre-PhD, and from focusing on Molecular Biology to adding an undergraduate major in Computer Sciences, delaying his graduation.  After applying and getting admitted to numerous top graduate schools, he decided to stay here, in a program with a co-advisor at the NCI (Bruce Shapiro).   Philip received a rare NSF graduate fellowship and I could talk all day about his research on cap-independent translation of RNA viruses.  However, he will always be known for his RNAcanvas RNA structure drawing program.  Probably tired of hearing me complain of the lack of user-friendly software, he surprised us with this program, which is currently used by 100’s of research labs throughout the world.  RNAcanvas was transformational when introduced, expanding how a structure drawing program could be used to explore alternative and tertiary RNA conformations.  The insights made using this program were instrumental in our solving the structure of only the third full-length virus, which led to the paradigm shifts needed to develop the virus into a vector to solve intractable problems in agricultural science. As Philip reaches his final year in graduate school, he has made another astonishing discovery of what looks like a novel process in plants to deal with rare, double-stranded foldback RNAs while fearlessly pioneering nanopore sequencing in the lab. I thank the Pelczar committee for recognizing a truly outstanding graduate student.”

ASHLEY WEISS

Recipient of the CBMG Outstanding Student Award

Mentor: Dr. Brantley Hall

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics

Dr. Brantley Hall’s comments: "Ashley is an inquisitive, dedicated, and reliable student who is always willing to take on an intellectual challenge. Not only has she worked in my lab, but pursued different internships every summer she has been at UMD. Even though we will miss her in the lab, I am excited to see her future accomplishments during graduate school at UPenn and beyond."

LIZBETH SANCHEZ

Recipient of the Norman Laffer Scholarship

Mentor: Dr. Caren Chang

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics

Dr. Chang’s comments: "Lizbeth is highly capable and has great initiative and independence. She’s a true lab rat who can be found in the lab at all hours. As a high school intern in my lab, she started working with the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha and now as a UMD sophomore, Lizbeth leads several projects and teaches all the graduate students in the lab how to work with Marchantia. Lizbeth will soon be a co-author on her first paper and is on the path to becoming a successful scientist."

NHU LE

Recipient of the Anthony D. Brown (BS '93) Memorial Scholarship

Mentor: Dr. Cherisse Hall

BSCI Specialization: Microbiology

Dr. Cherisse Hall’s comments: “Nhu has been working in the FIRE Bacterial Pathogenesis stream since it opened in January 2020, first as a student and then as a peer research mentor. She is highly motivated and takes ownership of her research projects to drive them to completion. When the lab reopened in Fall 2021, Nhu played an instrumental role in developing new research protocols. She is a great role model for students and brings a positive energy when she works in the lab. She is always eager to help students, share ideas and troubleshoot experiments with other researchers in the lab. It has been a great pleasure working with Nhu for these past three years.”

AARON LEMMER

Recipient of the Arne P. Hansen CBMG Honors Program Outstanding Thesis

CBMG Departmental High Honors

Thesis Title: “Functional Mapping and Structural Characterization of a Novel Panel of Marburgvirus Glycoprotein Targeting Monoclonal Antibodies”

Mentor: Dr. Gilad Ofek (IBBR)

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics 

Dr. Ofek’s comments: As a student, Aaron has shown a keen talent for learning quickly, both at the bench and analytically. This was evident in his ability to swiftly tackle projects on two distinct viruses that are studied in the lab, first on HIV and then on Marburg which was the focus of his thesis. During the pandemic Aaron continued his research, and for a period when most members of the group were unfortunately quarantined, he helped keep some critical crystallization experiments running. Aaron is a promising future physician-scientist and will continue his research at IBBR prior to attending medical school.

SAMANTHA SMITH

Recipient of the Appleman-Norton Award for Plant Biology

CBMG Departmental Honors

Thesis Title: “Investigating the ethylene-independent role of ACC in Arabidopsis thaliana root growth” 

Mentor: Dr. Caren Chang

BSCI Specialization: Biochemistry

Dr. Chang’s comments: "Samantha (Sami) took on a challenging project in my lab and tackled it with enthusiasm, energy, and resilience. Her CBMG Honors Thesis, which Sami wrote with a high degree of independence, displays her intellect and provides key experiments for a manuscript that Sami will be co-authoring."

MOLLY MARANTO

CBMG Departmental Honors

Thesis Title: “Generation and characterization of a fluorescently tagged knock-in allele of a Drosophila FGF, Pyramus” 

Mentor: Dr. Sougata Roy

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics

Dr. Roy’s comments: “Molly is a fearless undergraduate student who does not hesitate to undertake difficult projects. She is a quick learner and a very hard working scientist. As an undergraduate Honors student, she generated a Drosophila fly line that expresses an endogenously tagged FGF protein using CRISPR/Cas9 and uncovered the distribution pattern of the signal within the Drosophila muscle stem cell niche using high-resolution microscopic methods. This is a difficult task for an undergraduate student to accomplish especially during the pandemic. It was a pleasure to see her grow as a scientist. Not only she successfully defended her research thesis, she also contributed to cloning several DNA constructs and generating transgenic stocks. We appreciate her curiosity towards science and wish her all the very best for her future!”

SHOHAM GHOSH

CBMG Departmental High Honors

Thesis Title: “Systematic Identification of cGAMP Binding Proteins in Vibrio cholerae”

Mentor: Dr. Vincent Lee

BSCI Specialization: Physiology & Neurobiology

Dr. Lee’s comments: Shoham is a smart and hard-working student. During his time in my lab, he has found new binding proteins to cyclic-GMP-AMP for Vibrio cholerae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. I am sure these findings will be a part of a future manuscript.

ABHIRAMI (Ami) THAIVALAPPIL

CBMG Departmental Honors

Thesis Title: “A Comparative Analysis on the Effects of Methylene Blue (MB) and Toluidine Blue (TBO) on Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS)”

Mentor: Dr. Kan Cao

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics 

Dr. Cao’s comments: Ami is a talented student researcher who worked persistently on her project of analyzing methylene blue and its analogs in cellular aging, despite the disruption of the pandemic. She has co-authored two publications from my group and proved herself to be a capable scientist. She is mature, reliable, and super organized. I am very proud of her accomplishment!

DANIEL PETERSON

BSCI Specialization: Microbiology

Comments: Daniel is involved in Club soccer and loves playing guitar.

PHILIP JOHNSON

Recipient of the Carroll E. Cox Award

Lab: Dr. Anne Simon

Project Title: Characterizing the local and genome-wide structures of RNA plant viruses

BISI Specialization: Computational Biology, Bioinformatics and Genomics (CBBG)

Dr. Simon’s comments: Philip is unquestionably one of the intelligent, if not the most intelligent, graduate student I have encountered in my 35 year career. He is fearless in using new approaches in his research. He works very independently and comes up with highly creative explanations for his results. He was the recipient of an NSF predoctoral fellowship and already has two first author publications in outstanding journals: RNA Biology and Nucleic Acids Research, and is nearly finished with a third paper, which will also be a first author paper along with an undergraduate that he has been supervising. Philip made a highly significant contribution to the field of RNA biology by designing and implementing the most powerful RNA structure drawing program available. This program is currently being used by investigators all over the world and was instrumental in our solving the structure of a complete plant sub-viral RNA from citrus (nearly 3000 nt) that is being developed as a vector to control plant diseases. The solving of how to make plant virus VIGS vectors stable, which has eluded the field for 20 years, was only possible because of Philip’s program. Philip is going to have a very important career ahead of him.

MARY CHEY

Recipient of the Isabel R. McDonald Service Award

Lab: Dr. Antony Jose

Project Title: Understanding the molecular basis of heritable epigenetic changes

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. Jose’s comments: Mary is leading our efforts to understand heritable epigenetic changes. She made important contributions to a foundational paper and published a critical review that sets up the problems that need to be solved. She is now working on explaining why some genes are susceptible to RNA silencing that can last for hundreds of generations and others are not. In addition, she is very conscientious and kind with a generous spirit that extends to all around her and the broader community. She has been part of the annual retreat organizing committee for multiple years. Mary is also very artistic. Her design of the logo for last year's retreat is a thing of beauty. It is aesthetically pleasing and incorporates most of the model systems that everyone in the department and graduate program works on.

ETHAN IVERSON

Recipient of the Andrew J. Moyer Outstanding Graduate Student Award

Lab: Dr. Margaret Scull

Project Title: Mucin-mediated and Interferon-driven Defense Mechanisms against Influenza Virus Infection in Human Airway Epithelium

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. Scull’s comments: "Ethan has been instrumental in my lab in more ways than I can count. His skills at the bench, hard work, and collaborative nature are evidenced by the impressive number of publications he has co-authored during his time at UMD. Beyond this though, Ethan has contributed enormously to training new students and teaching undergraduates and his passion for studying influenza has always brought an energy to the lab that is hard to beat. His defense was one of the proudest moments of my career and also one of the saddest, as it's difficult to let the great students go! Needless to say, I’m thrilled that Ethan’s accomplishments have been recognized through this award and am excited to see where his talents take him next."      

JUNGHYUN RACHEL KIM

Recipient of the Wallace Prescott Rowe Award

Lab: Dr. Jeffrey Cohen (NIH/NIAID)

Project Title: Development and Characterization of Epstein-Barr Virus Antibodies and Testing Their Efficacy in a Humanized Mouse Model

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. Cohen’s comments: "Rachel developed a small animal model for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection and disease after extensive optimization of a large number of variables.  Using this system she has tested many EBV monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), as well as immune sera from mice immunized with EBV vaccines, for their ability to prevent EBV infection and lymphoma.  In addition to producing these mAbs, she constructed bispecific antibodies and tested them in neutralizing and fusion blocking assays, and in humanized mice.  This work led to a first author paper in Virology, a coauthor paper in Science Translational Medicine, a co-first author paper under review at another journal, and a first author paper currently being written.  Her work has resulted in a new direction for our research with plans to develop mAbs for prevention of EBV infection and disease in immunocompromised patients."

AKSHAY PATEL

Co-Recipient of the MOCB-BISI M. Zain-Ul-Abedin Memorial Scholarship Award / Recipient of the Philip J. Provost Graduate Fellowship Award

Lab: Dr. Sougata Roy

Project Title: “Investigating the role of cytonemes in coordinating asymmetric signaling in stem cell niche”

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. Roy’s comments: "Akshay is an outstanding scientist. He has been involved in research in my lab since his undergraduate time at UMD. He quickly learned fly genetics and microscopic techniques and contributed to his first paper in the Developmental Biology journal. He continued to pursue his research career as a Ph.D. student in my lab. Within three years, he could single-handedly characterize a new muscle stem cell niche in Drosophila by combining complex genetics, molecular biology, and several advanced high-resolution microscopic techniques. This terrific effort contributed to discovering a novel mechanism that coordinates asymmetric signaling and organization within the stem cell niche. A part of this work has already contributed to two publications in Nature and Nature Communications. It has been a pleasure watching Akshay grow as a scientist.”

ZAJEBA TABASHSUM

Co-Recipient of the MOCB-BISI M. Zain-Ul-Abedin Memorial Scholarship Award

Lab: Dr. Debabrata Biswas (AGNR)

Project Title: “Combination of Lactobacillus casei with berry pomace extracts in sustainable poultry production through gut microbiome modulation”

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. Biswas comments: "Zajeba is a remarkable hardworking student. Her current research focuses on the combined role of prebiotic and prebiotic (synbiotics) in modulating gut microflora and its role in competitively excluding enteric bacterial pathogens, particularly Campylobacter colonization in gut and positively influence the host immune system and limit the inflammation. She is also impassioned in teaching."

KEVIN TU

Recipient of the CBMG Diversity , Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Recognition Award

Nominator: Dr. Jonathan Dinman

BSCI Specialization: Physiology and Neurobiology

Dr. Dinman’s comments: Kevin does everything: cancer research, developing and teaching an iCourse, developing a rural telemedicine platform, student government, peer counseling, and he even has time to run a satirical newspaper. Most important for this award is his work with the Student Government Association on behalf of the LGBTQIA+ community. Kevin wrote and passed a bill in to support the university housing of LGBTQIA+ students during the summer if they have unsafe home situations; he worked to revitalize the 50 queer scientists project, which aims to increase the visibility of LGBTQ+ scientists at UMD; and he volunteers with the TREVOR Lifeline to prevent suicides in LGBTQ+ youth.

FUXI WANG

Recipient of the CBMG Diversity , Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Recognition Award

Lab: Dr. Zhongchi Liu

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Project Title:  'Mechanism of DREAM component TSO1 in plant stem cell regulation'

Comments from Dr. Liu: From the very beginning, Fuxi Wang displayed a sensitivity toward people of different backgrounds and was not afraid of speaking up on issues relating to fair treatments in classes, in the lab, the department, or on our campus. Fuxi always prepares a “diversity short talk” at our lab meetings, and recently made a short video on the Beijing Olympic’s mascot for the online CBMG Newsletter to introduce different cultural activities. Fuxi has contributed greatly to the recruitment of a diverse BISI graduate class through her work with the BISI office. Through various efforts, Fuxi made an important contribution to our department in creating a welcoming, inclusive, fair, and open environment.

SASVI KULASINGHE

Recipient of the Norman Laffer Scholarship

Mentor: Dr. Vincent Lee

BSCI Specialization: Physiology & Neurobiology

Dr. Lee's comments: “Sasvi is a quick learner by reading primary literature as well as in the lab setting. She has taken on a project to identify putative transporters for bacterial quorum molecules. She has already quickly generated tools to aid her studies. I look forward to the results from her studies!"

CHRISTOPHER BOLLINGER

Recipient of the Anthony D. Brown (BS '93) Memorial Scholarship

Mentor: Dr. John Buchner

BSCI Specialization: Microbiology

Dr. Buchner's comments: “Chris was integral in our switch from face to face to emergency online teaching in the Spring of 2020, in particular his assistance in the production of lab videos. That summer he participated in our course re-design, creating content, and testing out our ideas and giving feedback when needed. Finally in the Spring of 2021, Chris got to participate once again as a teaching assistant in the course he helped re-design, helped lead discussions of papers, and even then kept up on improvement of course materials. He has been great to work with, and I look forward to seeing what he will do. "

MARK CERASOLI

Co-Recipient of the Arne P. Hansen CBMG Honors Program Outstanding Thesis

CBMG Departmental High Honors

Thesis Title: "Characterizing the Role of Endophilin-A2 in Plasma Membrane Repair"

Mentor: Dr. Norma Andrews

BSCI Specialization: Microbiology

Dr. Andrew's comments:  “Mark did a terrific job with his project and played a critical role in getting the results published. He initially worked with an Assistant Research Professor, Matthias Corrotte, and quickly learned many new techniques. Mark's independence and outstanding ability to “think on his feet” made all the difference when Matthias was offered a position and had to leave the lab. In a short period of time Mark performed the additional experiments required by the reviewers, guaranteeing acceptance of the manuscript! As shown in his thesis he also did an in-depth analysis of the literature and expressed clearly the significance of his findings. We are excited to follow his future achievements in graduate school at Harvard!”

CHIH HAO WU

Co-Recipient of the Arne P. Hansen award for CBMG Honors Program Outstanding Thesis

CBMG Departmental High Honors

Thesis Title: "Discovery of Latent Sequence Features that Delineate LoaP as an RNA-binding subclass of NusG Family Member Proteins"

Mentor: Dr. Wade Winkler

BSCI Specialization: Microbiology

Dr. Winkler's comments: "Daniel (Chih Hao) has been involved in research for his entire time at UMD. He started with the Engineering Biosensors FIRE stream and then joined my lab to work on bacterial gene regulation. However, the pandemic refocused his project away from bench work and towards bioinformatics goals. Daniel flourished in this role. His work has impacted several projects in the lab and earned him co-authorship on multiple publications. But even more impressive is the way Daniel has guided these projects, proposing and troubleshooting his own ideas. Already, Daniel is a talented and independent scientist!"

MADISON PLUNKERT

Recipient of the Appleman-Norton Award for Plant Biology

CBMG Departmental High Honors

Thesis Title: "Investigating the Genetic Basis of Compound Leaf Morphology in the Woodland Strawberry"

Mentor: Dr. Zhongchi Liu

BSCI Specialization: Ecology & Evolution

Dr. Liu's comments: “Madison joined my lab nearly three years ago and quickly established herself as a valuable member, contributing solutions and making novel discoveries in the molecular mechanism of compound leaf development in strawberry. The Appleman-Norton Award and Departmental High Honors are well-deserved recognitions of her research accomplishments.”

EMILY REAGLE

Co-Recipient of the CBMG Outstanding Student Award

CBMG Departmental High Honors

Thesis Title: "scfC Encodes Substrate Binding Protein of a Putative ABC Importer Essential for Fitness in Streptococcus pyogenes Infections"

Mentor: Dr. Kevin McIver

BSCI Specialization: Microbiology

Dr. McIver's comments: “Emily is a consummate scientist who enjoys identifying key questions, developing relevant experiments, and embracing the time-consuming troubleshooting that is necessary for any successful research. Her honors work with graduate student Rezia Braza on the ScfCDE ABC importer was very productive and is currently in preparation for publication. Just as important, Emily is a fun and integral member of the lab and we are all very proud of her receiving ‘high honors’ for her CBMG honors research.” 

ADAM TYRLIK

Co-Recipient of the CBMG Outstanding Student Award

CBMG Departmental Honors

Thesis Title: "The Role of B cell Intracellular Lipid Accumulation on B cell Activation and B cell-mediated Inflammation"

Mentor: Dr. Wenxia Song

BSCI Specialization: Microbiology

Dr. Song's comments: “Adam is a unique thinker and has a passion for research. Adam often could be found in the lab on weekends, with full PPE busy on a cryostat or fluorescence microscope. He has contributed to a project on lipid metabolism on B-cell activation and will be a co-author of a future publication. It has been a pleasure watching Adam grow scientifically. We, the Song Lab, congratulate Adam and wish him a bright future.”

ANUJ APTE

CBMG Departmental Honors

Thesis Title: "Altering Drosophila Sleep Patterns to Assess Resistance to Infection by the Entomopathogenic Fungus Metarhizium anisopliae"

Mentor: Dr. Ray St. Leger

BSCI Specialization: General Biology

Dr. Jonathan Wang's (Post-doc in the St. Leger Lab) comments: “Anuj is a diligent and independent worker. He displays both dedication and curiosity --which will no doubt serve him well in the future. It was a great pleasure to work with him.”

ADAM DAWOOD

CBMG High Departmental Honors

Thesis Title: "On the Characterization and Detection of Conserved Elements of Mammalian Spermatogonial Stem Cell Self-renewal and Differentiation"

Mentor: Dr. Carol Keefer

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics

Dr. Keefer's comments: “While Adam Dawood was making good progress in the lab before the COVID19 shutdown – he demonstrated that cat spermatogonial stem cells (SSC) express the protein ID4 – it is his findings from his bioinformatics work that may truly contribute to the success of our cat SSC project. He suggested that inhibition of a particular pathway may result in better maintenance and propagation of undifferentiated cat SSC. We are testing that hypothesis in the lab now. If it works, it will improve the system significantly allowing us to grow more cells for use in more complex analyses.”

SHERRY FAN

CBMG Departmental Honors

Thesis Title: "The Role of Intracellular Neutral Lipid Accumulation in B cells in B cell Activation and Mediation of Obesity-Related Inflammation"

Mentor: Dr. Wenxia Song

BSCI Specialization: Physiology & Neurobiology

Dr. Song's comments:  “Sherry is highly enthusiastic and academically talented and always looking for a new learning experience. She has worked on a project on obesity and autoimmunity for three years and will be a co-author of a future publication. It has been a pleasure to have Sherry in the lab. All the members of Song lab are very proud of her and wish her a bright future!”

TANYA GHOSH

CBMG Departmental Honors

Thesis Title: "Assessing a Potential Ribosomal Frameshift Signal within the ATF4 mRNA"

Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Dinman

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics

Dr. Dinman's comments: “Tanya is a tremendous self-starter. She took on a new project for the lab based on an observation made by a colleague of a potential +1 ribosomal frameshift event in a human mRNA that encodes a critical transcriptional regulator of the general stress response. This was a difficult high risk/high reward project that she tackled on her own. Through grit and perseverance through the Covid crisis, she solved the problem, demonstrated efficient frameshifting, and will end up with authorship on an very high impact paper. Great job!”

VICTORIA MURPHY

CBMG Departmental Honors

Thesis Title: "Regulatory sequences that promote transgenerational changes in gene expression in the nematode C. elegans"

Mentor: Dr. Antony Jose

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics

Dr. Jose's comments: “Victoria is a fully engaged scientist. Her honors work with graduate student Mary Chey has started a new line of inquiry in the lab that is foundational for a publication. She carefully analyzed different lines to discover a way to monitor spontaneous gene silencing. Victoria is an active contributor who asks insightful questions and makes useful suggestions. Her input during lab meetings has helped multiple projects in the lab and it has been a pleasure to work with her.”

ANGELA YANG

CBMG Departmental Honors

Thesis Title: "Overly low and high fidelities in translation decrease flagellar motility by distinct mechanisms"

Mentor: Dr. Lanny Ling

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics

Dr. Ling's comments: “Angela is a very smart student and has made substantial contributions to several projects in the lab. Her contributions warrant her as a co-author in a submitted manuscript. She is also a very nice person to interact with and has really been a great addition to our lab.”

SARAH BEJO

BSCI Specialization: Microbiology

Sarah is a graduating senior majoring in microbiology on the pre-med track. She was in the Antibiotic Resistance stream in the UMD FIRE program, where she helped investigate the growing antibiotic resistance of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Sarah is heavily involved in the Student Health Advisory Committee with the health center and was a TA for BSCI170 and BSCI171.

GRACE BIDDLE

BSCI Specialization: General Biology

Grace is a senior majoring in General Biology who has spent the last semester of her undergraduate career focusing on her microbiology interests by taking immunology and virology courses. In addition to these classes, she also participated in a full-time internship with the U.S. Department of State during her final semester, where she worked for the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, Office of Missile, Biological, and Chemical Nonproliferation. At the State Department, she was able to use her biological background to assist the office in furthering U.S. nonproliferation goals, and was also able to see how biology plays a major role in U.S. foreign policy. Throughout her time at UMD, she also participated in the Honors College, Honors Ambassadors, Federal Fellows program, One Tent Health, Cru, Terp Thon, and intramural volleyball.

GIOVANNA CASTELLANOS

BSCI Specialization: General Biology

Giovanna is a General Biology major, but has dedicated her last semesters concentrating on her field of passion, microbiology. She has worked as a Biological Sciences Undergraduate Teaching Assistant for five semesters and has served as a president and tutor for Turtles, Eagles, and Math Club. Upon graduation, she will be performing research in a microbiology lab as a post-baccalaureate Research Assistant Fellow. 

KAYLA ROY

BSCI Specialization: Microbiology

Kayla is a third year student graduating this spring in Microbiology. This fall she will be starting her masters in food science. Kayla currently works as a lab technician for the Trichinella Surveillance Project at the Animal Parasitic Diseases Laboratory in USDA. 

QUYNH-THU KAITLIN TA

BSCI Specialization: Microbiology

Kaitlin is a microbiology major with a minor in sustainability and a minor in humanities, health, and medicine. She completed the environment, technology, and economy Scholars program and will be pursuing a career in medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine later this year. During her undergraduate years, Kaitlin has worked in the UMD Microbiology and Environmental Health lab, participated in club tennis and club volleyball, and was on the executive board for Phi Delta Epsilon.

MUZI LI

Recipient of the Carroll E. Cox Award

Lab: Dr. Zhongchi Liu

Project Title: Comparative transcriptome analysis to identify the mechanisms underlying Rosaceae fruit diversity

BISI Specialization: Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, and Genomics (CBBG)

Dr. Liu's comments: "I'm very fortunate to have Muzi as a graduate student in my lab. She's co-advised by Dr. Steve Mount and myself, so it worked really well as someone who works on the forefront of interdisciplinary research. So she learns plant biology from me and genetics from me, but her analysis is guided by Dr. Steve Mount. She has a talent, and she really works really well in this kind of arrangement and made a really important discoveries in the mechanism, food development. "

REZIA BRAZA

Recipient of the Andrew J. Moyer Outstanding Graduate Student Award

Lab: Dr. Kevin McIver

Project Title: The importance of nutrient adaptation and uptake by Group A Streptococcus for its growth and infection

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. McIver's comments: "She's not someone that stands on her laurels. I mean, she's incredibly well-prepared and incredibly proactive in everything she does. I think that the fact that, very rarely do we see students that do incredibly well in the lab but also do service as well. That's pretty much two parts of the same coin with Rezia. She very much cares about the lab, the lab community, the graduate community, or her fellow classmates, and how that's worked. She served on probably way too many committees outside of that scope that most students don't do so things in the department and the university that above and beyond, and yet she still was able to get three manuscripts and at least one or two more on the way. At some point, secure herself, a nice post-doc. I can't be happier, and I can't be sadder right because losing Rezia is like losing an arm. We're not going to grow that arm back. We just have to compensate. So, I think it's well-deserved, and I wish you the best of luck, and we’ll miss her. "

NATHAN SHUGARTS

Recipient of the Isabel R. McDonald Service Award

Lab: Dr. Antony Jose

Project Title: Intercellular transport of RNA in the nematode C. elegans

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. Jose's comments: "He is indeed very much deserving of this award. What I can add as his graduate advisor, and therefore perhaps watching him from a little bit closer is that he is as described a very reliable person who has been kind of a backbone of the lab through the time that he's been in the lab. He’s pushed our lab in new directions, been a very reliable and active participant at meetings. Generally, just pushing the science of everyone to a higher level than it would be without his presence. And as a person also, he brings a kind of friendly presence in the lab that makes the environment really collegiate. I think it's going to help him be a future leader in science and being able to kind of shepherd fields along as discoveries get made over time. So I think these are all great qualities that he possesses, and I'm really thrilled that he's recognized with this award. "

JAMIE KELLY

Recipient of the Wallace Prescott Rowe Award

Lab: Dr. Jonathan Dinman

Project Title: Characterizing the programmed -1 ribosomal frameshift signal of SARS-CoV-2

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Dr. Dinman's comments: "Within an hour after the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence was released at the end of January 2020, Jamie had identified its frameshift signal and approached me about doing a molecular and genetic characterization.  Within a few weeks she had obtained her first data. Working through severely limiting conditions through the spring and early summer of 2020, Jamie conducted all of the experiments, and collected and analyzed data to enable us to publish online in June, and publish the final paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry in July.  This was the first characterization of this important genetic regulatory element. To date it has been cited almost 60 times: this citation rate is illustrative of the "high impact" of her research.  From there, Jamie worked with collaborators to conduct a screen for frameshift inhibitors, work which is currently being finished up. Jamie is also the first author of a review article on coronavirus frameshifting that was published in January 2021."

NATALIE ACKER

CBMG Departmental Honors

Thesis Title: "Determining the Role of Virulence Factor, PDIM, Produced by Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Phagosome Protein Recruitment"

Mentor: Dr. Volker Briken

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics

ELIANA HERMAN

Recipient of the Arne P. Hansen CBMG Honors Thesis Award

CBMG Departmental High Honors

Thesis Title: "Biosynthesis and Role of ACC vs. Ethylene in Marsilea vestita"

Mentors: Dr. Caren Chang and Dr. Stephen Mount

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics

Dr. Chang's comments on Eliana: "Eliana brought a specific idea of what she wanted to study in my lab, utilizing sequence data she was generating in Dr. Stephen Mount's lab for the fern Marsilea vestita and applying this new knowledge to wet bench experiments in my lab. She was the driver of her research from start to finish, and her honors thesis is the outstanding product of her exceptional efforts."

ALEXANDRA SCHNEIDER

Recipient of the Outstanding CBMG Undergraduate Award

CBMG Departmental High Honors

Thesis Title: "Characterizing eEF2 mutations for altered translational fidelity and proteostatic stress"

Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Dinman

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics

Dr. Dinman's comments on Lexie: "Lexie joined the Dinman lab two and half years ago and rapidly mastered the techniques of molecular biology and yeast genetics. She regularly spent over 30 hours per week in the lab, and truly devoted herself to the research and to mastering the literature. The data she produced and analyzed are flawless and will be the centerpiece of a publication."

SHAVIN THOMAS

CBMG Departmental Honors

Thesis Title: "Guiding gene-specific methylation of histones in C. elegans"

Mentor: Dr. Antony Jose

BSCI Specialization: Physiology & Neurobiology

Dr. Jose's comments on Shavin: "Shavin is a source of positive energy for our group and a dynamo at the bench. Thanks to his fearless independence, his project has now turned from a vague idea into an active direction in the lab."

ALEXANDER LAURENSON

Recipient of the Appleman-Norton Plant Biology Award

Mentor: Dr. Charles Delwiche

BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics

Dr. Delwiche's comments on Alexander: "He has been a hard worker in my lab for four full years, and has done a really interesting project on how single celled dinoflagellates respond to changes in light. He's been doing this -- and finishing his bachelors -- while also working as an EMT for Prince George's County, so he's out there on the front lines whiles we are all sheltering in place. I can also say that his thesis ended up involving a lot of complex statistics that I know he didn't want to have to learn, but knuckled down and did a great job with it."

COLIN FIELDS

Recipient of the Outstanding CBMG Undergraduate Award

Mentor: Dr. Daniel Stein

BSCI Specialization: Microbiology

Dr. Stein's comments on Colin: "Colin is the most complete undergraduate I have interacted with in years. He was somehow able to balance three research projects, maintain an exceptional GPA while double-majoring in Biochemistry and Microbiology (with a minor in Astronomy), find time to be an undergraduate Teaching Assistant in Virology and Organic Chemistry and squeeze in exceptional leadership skills, captaining two different intermural soccer teams and an intermural futsal (a type of indoor soccer) team.

FUXI WANG

Recipient of the Carroll E. Cox Award

Lab: Dr.Zhongchi Liu

Project Title: "Investigating Arabidopis meristem development by studying a genetic suppressor of tso 1"

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)

Fuxi Wang is currently a fifth-year BISI-MOCB student. Her PhD research investigates how cell cycle regulation is coordinated with stem cell maintenance in Arabidopsis, a flowering plant. Fuxi has identified and characterized a cell cycle regulator (CYCA3;4), whose mutation can suppress the over-proliferation of stem cells exhibited by mutants of TSO1, a member of a conserved transcription complex DREAM. Her research directly links key cell cycle components with stem cell regulators, providing mechanistic insights into stem cell maintenance. Fuxi thinks critically and analytically with attention to detail. She is generous with her time in guiding undergraduate students and contributed to several collaborative projects. The Carroll E. Cox award recognizes her research excellence in plant biology.

REZIA BRAZA

Recipient of the MOCB-BISI M. Zain-Ul-Abedin Memorial Scholarship Award

Lab: Dr. Kevin McIver

Project Title: "Functional Analysis of a Group A Streptococcal Lous Important for Fitness in Soft Tissue"

BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB) / Host-Pathogen Interactions (HPI)

Rezia Era Braza is a 4th-year student in the MOCB concentration area of the BISI graduate program. She immigrated from the Philippines as a young teenager and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. from Morgan State University. Rezia was a trainee on the NIH Host-Pathogen Interactions (HPI) graduate training grant, was awarded the Isabel R. McDonald Service Award, and currently holds a prestigious NIH/NIAID F31 Diversity Pre-doctoral Fellowship. Her research in the McIver laboratory focuses on understanding how the human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus) obtains critical nutrients during infection that impact the outcome of disease. Rezia's work has resulted in a first author manuscript in Infection and Immunity in 2019 and co-authorship on a paper in Frontiers in Cell Infection and Microbiology in 2018.

ALEXANDER SIMON

Recipient of the Andrew J. Moyer Outstanding Graduate Student Award

Lab: Dr. Jose Feijo

Project Title: "Molecular Evolution and Biophysical Characterization of Plant Glutamate Receptors"

BISI Specialization: Physiological Systems (PSYS)

Alex is an extremely dedicated and hard-working graduate student, with elevated sense of responsibility, commitment to his project and endless curiosity about science. In accordance, he excelled in many ways, from sorting out the optimization of mammalian COS7 cells system expression plant ion channels that became an international reference in the field, to experimental records published on top shelf journals and relevant conceptual thinking that made it to seminal reviews about ion signaling and biophysics. Last but not least, Alex is the ultimate team player, always ready to help and collaborate, and someone which makes everyone happy just for being around.

Dr. Vincent Lee (left), Laura Maria Wilke, Anna B. Seminara, Emily Morgan, Avinaash Kaur Sandhu, Jason Lynch.  

Congratulations to our graduating CBMG Honors undergraduates for successfully defending their theses! Shown from L to R: Dr. Louisa Wu, Hannah Bress (Honors), Dr. Jon Dinman, Lyra Morina (Honors), Anna Seminara (High Honors) and Dr. Vincent Lee.

Congratulations to our graduating CBMG Honors undergraduates for successfully defending their theses! 

Shown from L to R: Lyra Morina (Fritz Lab), Hannah Bress (Dinman Lab), Anna Seminara (Lee Lab), Uzair Ahtesham (Chang Lab), Jessica Kan (Mount Lab) (not shown).

Congratulations to our graduating CBMG Honors undergraduates for successfully defending their theses! 

Shown from L to R: Shane Falcinelli (Briken lab), Monika Looney (Jose lab), Charlotte Francoeur (Wu lab), Amelia Stephens (Winkler lab), Lakshmi Kirkire (Pick lab), Eric Zhou (Lee lab), Katie Metz (Delwiche lab), John Paul Ouyang (Chang lab).

Sarah Helman (right) is graduating Magna Cum Laude in BSCI- Cell Biology & Genetics. She earned High Honors for her research in the lab of Dr. Vince Lee (left).

Evguenia Morgun (left) is graduating Magna Cum Lauda in BSCI- Cell Biology & Genetics. She earned High Honors for her research in the lab of Dr. Najib ElSayed (right).

Kai-Li Liang (left) is graduating Magna Cum Laude in BSCI-Microbiology with a minor in Global Poverty. Kai earned High Honors for his research in the lab of Dr. Richard Stewart (right).

Ira Herniter (left) is graduating in BSCI- Cell Biology & Genetics. He earned Honors for his research was in the lab of Dr. Zhongchi Liu (right).

Students completing their multiple semesters of research, seminars and honors thesis defense in the CBMG departmental honors program are from the left*:

1. Steven Klupt “Towards development of tools for live cell imaging of metabolite dynamics” (Dr. Winkler)
2. Patrick Curry “Characterization of CpsY: A putative transcriptional regulator linked to virulence in group A Streptococcus (Dr. McIver)
3. Ira Herniter “Determining the function of two novel microRNAs and the effect of GA on transformation in diploid strawberry Fragaria vesca (Dr. Liu)
4. Michael Kleymen “Using Machine Learning to Analyze Splicing Signals in Plants” (Dr. Mount)

 *Note: Research mentors are behind them in the back row.

Undergraduate students who served as undergraduate teaching assistants were recognized for their multi-term service and excellence in teaching. From left to right are:

MyLinh Vu, Nick Todd, Dr. Patricia Shields, Myrissa Carter and Will Still

New initiates are front from left:

Naomi Cole, Shane Falcinelli, Erin McCaffrey, Suk-Jun Moon, Theresa Katharina Talalai, Officers of the UMD ASM Microbiology Honor Society welcoming the initiates are (starting 4th from right) Emily DeBoy, Gary Soroosh and Yaniv Kazansky. Dr. Vince Lee (far right) is the faculty advisor for the ASM chapter.