Spring 2021 CBMG Honors and Awards
Congratulations to our Spring 2021 CBMG award winners!
Watch the 2021 CBMG Awards Ceremony videos:
Welcome Address - 2021 CBMG Awards Ceremony
Undergraduate Student Awards
CBMG Departmental Honors
SAO Microbiology Honor Society
Graduate Student Awards
Undergraduate Student Awards
Initiates for the Sigma Alpha Omicron (SAO) Microbiology Honor Society
Graduate Student Awards
[Information about these scholarships, awards and fellowships]
Undergraduate Student Awards
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 Dr. P. Arne 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 Dr. P Arne 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.”
SIJIA CHEN
CBMG Departmental Honors
Thesis Title: "Elucidating Heme Sensation in the C. elegans Animal Model"
Mentor: Dr. Iqbal Hamza
BSCI Specialization: Physiology & Neurobiology
OMID TABATABABEE
CBMG Departmental Honors
Thesis Title: "Identifying Novel Pair-Rule Genes in Oncopeltus fasciatus"
Mentor: Dr. Leslie Pick
BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics
ELI WINKLER
CBMG Departmental Honors
Thesis Title: "Long Interspersed Nuclear Element-1 (LINE-1) Expression and Regulation"
Mentor: Dr. David Sidransky (Hopkins)
BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics
DANIEL ZHENG
CBMG Departmental Honors
Thesis Title: "Investigating the promoter specificity and evolutionary significance of an Scr enhancer embedded in the Scr-ftz region"
Mentor: Dr. Leslie Pick
BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics
Initiates for the Sigma Alpha Omicron (SAO) Microbiology Honor Society
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.
EMILY REAGLE
BSCI Specialization: Microbiology
CHENGYAN ZHENG
BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Molecular Genetics
Graduate Student Awards
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."