Spring 2026 CBMG Honors and Awards
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT AWARDS
KYLE ZIBELL
Recipient of a Hansen Outstanding Student Award (nominated by Dr. Louisa Wu) and the Norman Laffer Scholarship
Mentor: Dr. Anne Simon
BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics
Dr. Wu’s comments: Kyle was an outstanding undergraduate teaching assistant for BSCI410 Molecular Genetics, and is well-deserving of this award! Kyle ran extra office hours on weeks when assignments or exams were due and even came up with guided study materials to help students prepare for the exams. He had to think of ways to meet students where they were with their understanding of the material and adapt his explanations so that they could connect with the concepts. His advice to students was “to not think of techniques as isolated events, but as a means to answer a question. And that this is useful because it mirrors the way scientific and clinical problems are approached in real life.” Often the heavy work from teaching and grading came at the same time as exams in his own classes, so I was impressed that he could manage the teaching responsibilities, put in the extra care to support the students, while getting his own coursework and research done. I also really appreciated that Kyle was quickly responsive to students, by email and on Piazza. Because of the ability to be “on call” for students near deadlines, I believe he helped alleviate their anxiety and keep them on track with the material. I learned recently that Kyle also spends many hours of the week as an EMT and with rescue. But once I knew, it made a lot of sense that Kyle could handle the emergency requests on molecular genetics from students while staying on top of his own work, similar to how he must with his first responder duties for the community.
Dr. Simon’s comments: Kyle has been an undergraduate researcher in the lab for three years working with postdoc Jason Needham. Kyle has a work ethic and dedication to learning rarely seen in a graduate student, much less an undergraduate. Whether its novel grafting techniques, reading up on plant movement complexes, or teaching himself bioinformatics, Kyle’s curiosity has driven many ideas and experiments in the lab. He is also a committed lab member, frequently helping out others by collecting samples, extracting RNA, or running gels. He’s more than willing to come into lab late at night or over the weekends, and many of my experiments would not have been possible without his help. Despite his considerable skills for an undergraduate researcher, Kyle is also humble and always open to constructive criticism. When he does err in his experiments, he’s quick to ask questions to understand his mistakes and corrects them. Kyle also stepped up when the Graduate TA for my senior level course became ill and he was able to adeptly grade the midterms and assist in class. Without his assistance I don’t know what I would have done this semester. Everyone in the lab will miss Kyle when he graduates.
AUSTIN LUU
Recipient of a Hansen Outstanding Student Award
BSCI Specialization: Microbiology
Nominator: Dr. Vincent Lee
Dr. Lee’s comments: Austin has been a member of the UMD ASM Club for two years. He served as the secretary from 2024-25 and as the president from 2025-26. As the president, he has led the club to numerous successful events including Faculty Research Panel with Drs. Pierce, Simon, and Winkler in the Fall, and Drs. Blaustein, Scull, and Gonzalez-Juarbe in the Spring, Jeopardy Night, Spac&Slime: AstrobioTime, Algae Bloom & Tie-Dye T-shirt making, Bread Fermentation Night, and Maryland Day. Throughout my time as the Faculty Advisor for the UMD ASM Club for the past 20 years, Austin has been among the best leaders of the club. He has gone above and beyond to work with other club leadership and members. He has worked with me very well and has been proactive in organizing events and making sure they are well advertised and attended. In all of his communications, he is organized and direct, but also extremely courteous and polite. I can’t emphasize the courteous and polite enough. In addition to being a great president of the club, Austin was an exceptional BSCI student with near perfect grades. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.
HAHNBIT KANG
Recipient of the Anthony Brown Scholarship for Microbiology
BSCI Specialization: Microbiology
Mentor: Dr. Sara Molinari (BIOE) through the NIH-sponsored MARC program
Dr. Molinari’s comments: Hahnbit stands out as one of the most intellectually mature and self-motivated undergraduate researchers I have mentored. Her research focuses on engineering bacterial extracellular vesicles (bEVs) as drug delivery vehicles for the vaginal microenvironment. Hahnbit has mastered an impressive array of techniques: primer design, PCR, gel electrophoresis and extraction, Golden Gate DNA assembly, heat shock transformation, miniprep, electroporation, ultracentrifugation, and confocal microscopy sample preparation, and independently performed bEV isolation and ZetaView data analysis. Her first major project involved constructing and testing constitutive promoters in the Anderson collection and optimizing signal peptides to improve vesicle surface properties. Her contributions were substantial enough to merit co-authorship on a manuscript currently under review. Within my group, she fosters a welcoming, collaborative environment and consistently uplifts her peers, whether by mentoring newer students or contributing thoughtful feedback during group meetings. Beyond her technical and intellectual strengths, Hahnbit is a delight to work with, respectful, kind, and deeply engaged. Her passion for science is matched by a genuine enthusiasm for learning from and supporting others.
JAMES SZOT
Recipient of an Appleman-Norton Plant Biology Award
CBMG Departmental High Honors
Thesis Title: Characterizing Male Sexual Competition in Angiosperm Reproduction through Genetic Screens, Cell-Cell Signaling, and Apical Growth Control
Mentor: Dr. José Feijó
BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics
Dr. Feijo’s comments: James was a pleasure to have around for all possible reasons. He joined the after a talk I delivered to the honors program, showing great curiosity about the results and, more impressively, the conceptual nature of the questions we were addressing. During his tenure in the lab James excelled in many respects. He has been dedicated, interested, genuinely curious, hard-working in the lab and fun to have around. But he went past broad adjectives. Since the beginning he has been disciplined, attentive and curious students. He constantly generated insightfully hypotheses, suggested experiments, and challenge results, all in a very intellectually mature way. He was unanimous embraced by the lab as extremely committed, cooperative and responsible. Resulting in James finishing his degree with high honors, and a final presentation including two completely original hypotheses, outside of the lab lines of research. We will miss having him around, and at the same time are proud that we will venture into new research avenues.
DEVIKA MATHUR
Recipient of an Appleman-Norton Plant Biology Award
CBMG Departmental Honors
Thesis Title: Investigating the role of WEEP in gravitropic responses in Fragaria vesca and Arabidopsis thaliana
Mentor: Dr. Caren Chang
BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics
Dr. Chang’s comments: Devika has been selected for this award in recognition of her research in strawberry and Arabidopsis thaliana coupled with her academic excellence. Devika has been a delight to work with. She is bright, capable and a conscientious lab member. Especially noteworthy are her independence and drive. Devika joined Dr. Zhongchi Liu’s lab in 2023 and began studying the role of a gene called WEEP in strawberry to determine if mutations in this gene cause strawberry stems and roots to droop, as this could provide benefits to strawberry farmers. When Dr. Liu retired from UMD a few months later, Devika joined my lab to continue her project. Given my lack of expertise working with strawberry, Devika conducted her project with minimal guidance from me. She overcame the challenges of working with strawberry through critical thinking, persistence, and hard work. Due to her strong interest in independent research, Devika joined the CBMG Honors Program and subsequently expanded her study to include the role of the WEEP gene in Arabidopsis. We expect her work to result in a publication. With the dedication and care she puts into everything she does, Devika is poised to do great things!
CADENCE MICHELS
Recipient of the Dr. P. Arne Hansen Memorial Award for Outstanding Honors Thesis
CBMG Departmental High Honors
Thesis Title: Selective cleavage and measurement of mucin with designed proteases: a new diagnostic tool
Mentors: Dr. Louisa Wu and Dr. Gregg Duncan (BIOE)
BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics
Dr. Wu’s comments: It's been a real pleasure getting to mentor and work with Cadence! She was a student in my Molecular Genetics class and I could tell that she is naturally curious and likes to experiment and figure out things. I recruited her to work on a project between several labs (mine, Philip Bryan and Gregg Duncan) that encompasses a tissue model, biochemistry, and biophysics in a physiological system. I appreciate how Cadence managed working between our 3 groups, engaging and talking to all of us individually and together, developing expertise in those areas to really make the collaboration work. She is fully intellectually engaged and able to drive her own (part of the) project and has studied how a protease can be used both as a therapeutic and a diagnostic tool in the study of mucus in respiratory disease. By her nature, I can see that she is someone who checks the sources, analyzes the available information and is willing and able to discuss issues, be it science or other topics. I'm also impressed by how much she does on campus besides research, and I know she'll do well in graduate school at NYU!
Dr. Duncan’s comments: Cadence has been a pleasure to work with and has shown a maturity on par with graduate students in our lab. This allowed her to quickly make progress on her thesis work and integrate very well into our group. Cadence worked closed with a graduate student in our lab, Sahana Kumar (MOCB PhD student), and has been great to see how they have worked collaboratively to accomplish the goals of the Grand Challenges project with Louisa Wu, Philip Bryan, and Catherine Spirito.
JOANNA CHANG
CBMG Departmental High Honors
Thesis Title: Investigating the role of matrix metalloproteinases in cytoneme-mediated inter-organ FGF dispersion in Drosophila
Mentor: Dr. Sougata Roy
BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics
Dr. Roy’s comments: Joanna Chang has been a member of our laboratory since Fall 2024. During her time in the lab, she completed her Honors research project exploring the role of Matrix Metalloproteinases in the long-distance communication of FGF through cellular projections called cytonemes during Drosophila tracheal development. Cytoneme-mediated FGF exchange between cells and tissues is a key step required for signaling activation and organ development. Although our prior work suggested a role for cell-surface Matrix Metalloproteinases in cytoneme-mediated FGF release, Joanna’s project aimed to more thoroughly examine how these enzymes contribute to target-specific FGF exchange by combining Drosophila genetics, live ex vivo organ culture, pharmacology, histochemistry, and confocal microscopy. Using these approaches, Joanna was able to visualize fluorescently tagged FGF molecules in ex vivo cultured Drosophila tissue and monitor their rate of transfer to a growing tracheal branch. Through her ability to conceptualize complex ideas, along with her perseverance and hard work, she helped firmly establish the essential role of Matrix Metalloproteinases in the long-distance cell-cell exchange of FGF. As a researcher, Joanna is a highly curious student, and she has a rare ability to rapidly grasp and synthesize complex concepts in cell and developmental biology, and to visualize biological processes across scales, from molecules and cells to entire organisms. Although she is graduating two years ahead of schedule, her conceptual understanding, problem-solving ability, motivation, and dedication to her work are exceptionally strong. It has been a joy to watch Joanna grow as a talented researcher, and we all wish her the very best as she pursues her future goal of becoming a scientist with an MD-PhD.
ARYAAN P. DUGGAL
CBMG Departmental High Honors
Thesis Title: A comprehensive and synergistic approach to eradicating antibiotic-resistant Serratia marcescens
Mentor: Dr. Norberto Gonzalez-Juarbe
BSCI Specialization: General Biology
Dr. Gonzalez-Juarbe’s comments: Aryaan Duggal has been part of the Gonzalez-Juarbe Lab since he did a summer internship at the J. Craig Venter Institute and then continue as a full member of the laboratory after our move to UMD-College Park in 2024. Aryaan quickly became interested in the translational aspects of development of new antimicrobial therapies. Since then, Aryaan single handily took over a project focused on Serratia marcescens bacterial biofilm decolonization. His first author manuscript titled “A Triple-Modality Peptide-Antibiotic-Phage Therapy Eradicates Multidrug-Resistant Serratia marcescens Biofilms” is currently under review for publication. Aryaan was tremendous in managing his time, he planned his experiments in a way that he could use the free hours of his week to generate data almost every week. He has become an example for other undergraduates. Aryaan intends to become a physician-scientist to continue to research and translate new therapies from the bench to the bedside. Congratulations Aryaan!
EILA FLUMEN
CBMG Departmental Honors
Thesis Title: Investigating the Mechanisms of Bacterial Extracellular Vesicle Uptake by Candida Cells
Mentor: Dr. Steven Jay (BIOE)
BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics
Dr. Jay’s comments: Eila joined the lab in the middle of her sophomore year and immediately brought a cheerful attitude that brightened the entire research group. She was a strong driver of collegial lab culture during her time with us. She worked hard on a challenging project through multiple pivots and developed a strong mastery in her laboratory techniques which she has enjoyed sharing and passing on to underclassmen through training in the lab.
YINING S LIU
CBMG Departmental Honors
Thesis Title: Investigating the Mobilization of Hepatic Iron During Early Postnatal Development in Mice
Mentor: Dr. Byung-Eun Kim (AGNR)
BSCI Specialization: Cell Biology & Genetics
Dr. Kim’s comments: Yining (Sunny) Liu has been an outstanding member of my laboratory for two and a half years, investigating iron and copper regulation in adipose tissue and liver. She discovered that liver ferritin abundance is regulated to serve as an iron supplier for systemic iron distribution during early postnatal development, a process potentially mediated by Nuclear Receptor Co-Activator 4 (NCOA4). Her research contributions include co-authorship on multiple conference presentations, including a flash talk at the 2025 Red Cell Club meeting, and an upcoming manuscript. Most notably, she developed her honors thesis proposal with a high level of independence, demonstrating remarkable self-driven scientific vision. Sunny is among the most driven undergraduate researchers I have mentored.
Initiates for the Sigma Alpha Omicron (SAO) Microbiology Honor Society
AUSTIN LUU
BSCI Specialization: Microbiology
Austin Luu is a senior Microbiology major with a Data Science minor at the University of Maryland, College Park. He has served as the President of UMD's American Society for Microbiology student chapter. His research experience has investigated the molecular biology of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with the FIRE Bacterial Pathogenesis stream and Shigella sonnei with the Barry lab at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. After graduation, he'll be pursuing a career as a physician.
ELISABETH DURSO
BSCI Specialization: Microbiology
Elisabeth Durso is a junior Microbiology major and Science, Technology, Ethics and Policy (STEP) minor at the University of Maryland. She acts as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant for Principles of Molecular & Cellular Biology and serves as PR Manager and Co-President elect for the UMD Student Chapter of the American Society for Microbiology. After graduation, Elisabeth plans to pursue a PhD and career in research.
GABRIELLA CHIASERA
BSCI Specialization: Microbiology
Gabriella is a senior dual-degree student in Microbiology and Spanish. Her involvement on campus includes serving as a Team Lead and Mentor with Maryland Mentor Corps, conducting research in the Family Involvement Laboratory, participating in the Language House program, and founding the UMD Club Polo Team, where she served as president and coach. She has also worked to expand access to educational and health resources for Spanish-speaking communities through translation and outreach initiatives in underserved areas.
KYLIE WISNIEWSKI
BSCI Specialization: Microbiology
Kylie is a junior pursuing a double degree in Microbiology and Dietetics with a Spanish minor. This past year she served as a Peer Nutrition Coach for the Health Center where she helped clients make sustainable lifestyle changes. Outside of classes, she is an active competitor for Club Figure Skating where she also acts as the Vice President of Synchronized Skating and plays an integral role in managing the logistics of team registration and competition travel.
NATHANIEL LIM
BSCI Specialization: Microbiology
Nathaniel is a senior Microbiology and Biochemistry major at the University of Maryland. Some of his involvements around campus include being a member of the Student Alumni Leader Council, an officer for club table tennis, and working as a facilities supervisor at Eppley Recreation Center. After graduation, he plans on attending dental school.
TA AWARDS
AURELIE NIYONGABO
Recipient of an Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
TA for BSCI451
Nominator: Dr. Van der Weele (BIOL)
Lab: Dr. Gilad Ofek
Project Title: Structural and immunogenetic determinants of antibody recognition of viral glycoproteins in vaccination and natural infection
BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)
Dr. Van der Weele’s comments: Aurelie has been a TA for BSCI451, Mammalian Systems Physiology lab, for over 3 years. She has contributed significantly to the course. Her feedback on experiments, assignments and suggested fixes for all the things that did not work well have helped to improve the course. This was especially helpful during the transition to the new course curriculum. What stands out most of all though, is the appreciation of the students for Aurelie. She sets high standards and makes her students work but in the end they all say how much they learned and enjoyed having her as a TA. I have no doubt she will become a successful educator and hopefully she will be able to combine this with her research expertise and inspire many students.
ELIZABETH IZYDORE
Recipient of an Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
TA for BSCI202
Nominator: Dr. Caitlin Fox (BIOL)
Lab: Dr. Kan Cao
Project Title: Identifying Ang2-Responsive Pathways Restoring Endothelial Cell Function in HGPS
BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)
Dr. Fox’s comments: Lizzy has been a stellar TA for Human Anatomy & Physiology lab for seven semesters, most of her graduate career at UMD. Although her title is teaching “assistant,” Lizzy is truly a teacher in her own right. During class, she is an engaging and knowledgeable educator who makes sure to check in with each individual student. She answers their questions thoroughly and helps them to troubleshoot experiments. Outside of class time, she preps the lab rooms each week and helps to guide more inexperienced undergraduate TAs. Her contribution to and support of undergraduate education here at UMD has been invaluable.
CEC Recognition Award
ANGELA NNABUE
Recipient of a Community Engagement Committee (CEC) Recognition Award
Undergraduate student in the Kinesiology major
Errica Philpott-Barber’s comments: Angela has been a member of the CBMG CEC committee for 1.5 years, which is longer than her required commitment of 1 year. As a Senior, Angela has remained studious and ensured that her academics have stayed at the forefront of her time here at UMD with a 3.7 GPA. She was an Undergrad Researcher in Sougata Roy's lab, member of Global Health Scholars and Founder/President of Minority Fitness & Nutrition Association. Angela not only contributed to the planning of departmental events, she advocated for her fellow Undergraduate students. Her advocacy included ensuring a listserve for biological sciences and similar majors were utilized for event notifications and seminar announcements. Angela didn't stop there, she organized and moderated an Undergrad/Graduate Panel discussion where BISI students were able to discuss their road to Grad/Med school to UMD Undergraduate students. This showed leadership, collaboration and inclusivity within the student population as well as campus engagement.
MEENAKSHI TANWAR
Recipient of a Community Engagement Committee (CEC) Recognition Award
Visiting Research Scientist in Dr. William Snell’s lab
Dr. Snell’s comments: Dr. Meenakshi Tanwar joined our laboratory in February 2023 as a postdoctoral fellow and is now Visiting Research Scientist. She came to our laboratory with expertise in signal transduction mechanisms, and has continued that interest in our group. Meenakshi uses the green alga Chlamydomonas as a model system to study conserved cellular and molecular mechanisms of signal transduction activated by cell-cell adhesion during fertilization. In addition to making exciting contributions to our research, Meenakshi has been an important contributor to creating a vibrant research community in our department. In the summer of 2024, she realized that our department would benefit from a Seminar/Works-In-Progress series, that, in addition to providing a forum for graduate students, would also enable postdoctoral fellows to present their research. Devoting much time and effort on her own and with advice from a small group of colleagues, she catalyzed the Insight Seminar Series. We meet once every 3 weeks in BRB 1103. Most speakers are from labs on the ground floor of BRB and the Biology department. Meenakshi’s hard work has brought us together to learn from each other, to get to know each other better, and to receive new insights from our colleagues about our own research. Dr. Tanwar’s efforts are a perfect example of community building that is having a lasting impact.
Graduate Student Awards
CONNOR YOUNG
Recipient of the Wallace Prescott Rowe Award
Lab: Dr. Margaret Scull
Project Title: Deconstructing the Role of Mucin Glycoproteins and Mucin-Associated Glycans on Viral Dynamics
BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)
Dr. Scull’s comments: Connor joined my lab just over a year ago, and has been making exciting headway into multiple aspects of airway mucin – respiratory virus interactions, including the generation of new cell culture models to test the impact of specific mucin-associated glycans on infection dynamics. He has also devised thoughtful and creative approaches to better define influenza virus particle composition and assess how host factors incorporated into the viral envelope may impact mucus penetration. Overall, he is an exceptional student, skilled experimentalist with an eye for detail, and joy to work with in the lab. Needless to say, I’m very excited for Connor to present work related to these projects in Belgium this summer and to see where his project leads us next!
GABRIELA ARP
Recipient of the Andrew J. Moyer Outstanding Graduate Student Award
Lab: Dr. Brantley Hall
Project Title: Elucidating gut microbial enzymatic transformations of steroid hormones: the gut microbiome’s role in human biochemistry
BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)
Dr. Hall’s comments: Gabi combines exceptional scientific drive with the intellectual depth and technical range needed to solve difficult problems. She approaches every experiment with focused intensity, quiet determination, and a genuine love of discovery.
STEPHEN STANIO
Recipient of the Isabel R. McDonald Service Award
Lab: Dr. Sougata Roy
Project Title: Investigating the roles of cytoneme mediated signaling
BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)
Nominator: Dr. Lanny Ling
Dr. Roy’s comments: Stephen Stanio is an outstanding and highly motivated graduate student who has been a member of our laboratory since Spring 2023. His research focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms underlying cytoneme-mediated signaling using Drosophila systems. He brings remarkable energy and enthusiasm to his work, along with a strong commitment to supporting others and fostering scientific inquiry among fellow students and postdoctoral researchers within and beyond the lab. Within the lab, Stephen is a dedicated mentor, training undergraduate and graduate students, as well as visitors from other laboratories, in approaches to studying cytoneme-mediated signaling. He has also demonstrated exceptional leadership and service to the broader scientific community. He served as a student organizer for the Mid-Atlantic Society for Developmental Biology meeting we hosted at UMD in 2024, contributing to the coordination of a large, high-impact event. He played an active role in graduate recruitment efforts in 2025 and 2026, representing the BISI program through exciting research presentations and thoughtful engagement with prospective students. In addition, Stephen was an indispensable organizer for the MOCB retreats in 2023 and 2024, where his initiative and collaborative spirit were key to their success. His efforts and contributions reflect a deep commitment to service, leadership, and community-building, and it is a joy to have him in our laboratory and to watch him grow.
NATHANIEL AJAGBE
Recipient of the Carroll E. Cox Award
Lab: Dr. Charles Seller
Project Title: Exploring the Molecular Mechanisms of Abscisic Acid-dependent Gene Regulation using a combination of Genomics and Proteomics approaches
Major: Biochemistry
Dr. Seller’s comments: Nathaniel Ajagbe is an excellent graduate student. Nathaniel joined my plant biology research group despite never having worked with plants before. He is pursuing a complex thesis project investigating the molecular biology of stress hormone dependent gene regulation in plants. His project requires the application of diverse techniques ranging from plant physiology to genomics and many of these were new techniques for Nathaniel, but he has quickly mastered them and already made significant progress since joining my lab. In addition to being a talented scientist, Nathaniel is a standout lab citizen and a major resource for other lab members. He is a patient mentor to undergraduate student researchers and he is always eager to help out. I have great confidence in his capacity to excel at UMD as a Ph.D. student and in his future scientific career. I look forward to observing his continued growth as a scientist as he progresses on his thesis research.
HUSAN TURDIEV
Recipient of the Heven Sze Graduate Award in Biomolecular Sciences and Genetics
Lab: Dr. Caren Chang
Project Title: Novel Arabidopsis thaliana ACC synthase mutants dispel myths and uncover new functions of the phytohormone ethylene
BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)
Dr. Chang’s comments: Husan is highly deserving of this award. Husan has conducted exceptional, novel research that has provided critical advances in the field of ethylene hormone biosynthesis. His work has overturned established findings while opening new directions in the field. This was possible because Husan tackles research questions with curiosity, tenacity and independence. His enthusiasm for science leads him to dive into the literature and to think deeply about experiments, and consequently he is a source of new hypotheses and creative approaches. He fearlessly takes on challenging questions and is willing to do the difficult work to elucidate the answers. Husan has a bright future ahead of him!
MOHAMMAD MIAN
Recipient of a Philip J. Provost Graduate Fellowship Award
Lab: Dr. Gilad Ofek
Project Title: Structural basis for Hepatitis C virus immune recognition and host interactions
BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)
Dr. Ofek’s comments: Since joining the lab, Mohammad Mian quickly picked up the critical concepts and methods of structural biology. His project has centered on a challenging region of the hepatitis C virus surface glycoprotein that plays a role in viral entry. Mohammad’s first objective was to obtain the structure of this region in complex with a neutralizing antibody. When first embarking on this goal, he quickly realized that the proteins at hand were prone to aggregation and insolubility. He was not deterred, and with great perseverance, set off to methodically determine why and came up with conditions to overcome these issues. In the end he succeeded and was able to successfully co-crystallize the complex and solve its structure. He is now applying similar approaches to understanding other aspects of viral entry and neutralization by antibodies. Mohammad has consistently shown all the signs of independence, persistence and willingness to tackle highly challenging problems in research.
VINASHYA VENKATASUBRAMANI
Recipient of a Philip J. Provost Graduate Fellowship Award
Lab: Dr. Antony Jose
Project Title: Identifying factors influencing epigenetic states of a gene
BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)
Dr. Jose’s comments: Vinashya engages in uncompromising pursuit of the clear experiment. This quality has been particularly suited for her project examining patterns of RNAs associated with gene silencing. Her advances position her for a prominent paper shortly. She has taught us how to think about the molecular changes that accompany heritable effects. Beyond research, she is a responsible presence in the lab and an engaged lab mate, helping everyone around her do better science. I look forward to her continued impact on our work and the many more discoveries that she is now well-positioned to make.
JEFFREY LOUBE
Recipient of the Stefanie and Richard Vogel Endowed Fellowship
Lab: Dr. Margaret Scull
Project Title: Tipping the scales: redox homeostasis during rhinovirus infection
BISI Specialization: Molecular and Cellular Biology (MOCB)
Dr. Scull’s comments: I have had the pleasure of serving as Jeff’s Ph.D. mentor since 2022. Jeff joined my lab with an already-impressive publication record and strong background in pulmonary physiology. However, his desire to stretch himself scientifically led him to delve into the details of virus-host interactions where he has been working with enthusiasm and rigor to deconvolute the interplay between rhinovirus replication, lipid metabolism, and a critical host factor called STING. In pursuit of testing his hypothesis, Jeff has pushed my lab into new areas and expanded our lab’s technical capabilities. His creativity and ability to make novel connections through reading the literature, alongside his incredible resilience, highlight his strong potential for a research career and make him a wonderful asset to the lab!
SHAYANA SARAVANAKUMAR
Recipient of the Dr. Edna O. Hokenson Endowed Fellowship
Lab: Dr. Brian Pierce
Project Title: Deep learning-based high-resolution modeling of T cell receptor recognition
BISI Specialization: Computational Biology, Bioinformatics and Genomics (CBBG)
Dr. Pierce’s comments: Shayana is a highly engaged and productive member of the laboratory, leading our T cell receptor complex modeling efforts. Her contributions include work on collaborative published and in-review manuscripts, participation in the IMMREP T cell receptor specificity prediction challenge in which our lab submitted highly ranked predictions, and ongoing benchmarking and modeling studies that are forming the basis of multiple in-progress and planned first-author manuscripts. She is always willing to help other lab members, including undergraduate researchers, and brightens the lab environment with her positive and enthusiastic attitude.