2024 Summer Undergraduate Research Fund (SURF) Awards have been announced. Of the 50 recipients, 13 are Molecular and Cell Biology majors! These students were selected from a strong group of applicants representing diverse areas of academic inquiry.
Congratulations to
Keertana Chagari ’25 (Molecular and Cell Biology, CLAS) Project Title: Reproducible Bioinformatic Workflows to Produce Diploid Phased Eukaryotic Genome Assemblies Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jill Wegrzyn, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Peter Fatzinger ’26 (Molecular and Cell Biology, CLAS) Project Title: Dynamic Changes in Chromosome Territories During Early Drosophila Embryogenesis Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jelena Erceg, Molecular and Cell Biology
Ryan Frier ’25 (Molecular and Cell Biology & Statistics, CLAS) Project Title: Investigating the Role of Actin Nucleation Factors in Mitosis Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kenneth Campellone, Molecular and Cell Biology
Suheera Haq ’26 (Molecular and Cell Biology & Individualized Major, CLAS) Project Title: Assessing the Role of BRD4 in Chlorine-Induced Lung Injury and Inflammation Faculty Mentor: Dr. Ley Smith, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Anthony He ’26 (Molecular and Cell Biology, CLAS) Project Title: Assembly and Annotation of a Chromosome-Scale Reference Genome for the Golden Conure (Guaruba guarouba) Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jill Wegrzyn, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Emmanuel Hernandez ’25 (Molecular and Cell Biology & Physiology and Neurobiology, CLAS) Project Title: How The Effects of a Forest Fire Change Ant and Fungus Microbiomes Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jonathan Klassen, Molecular and Cell Biology
Ruiwen Lin ’25 (Molecular and Cell Biology & Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, CLAS) Project Title: Exploring Hybridization in Lungless Salamanders Faculty Mentor: Dr. Hunmin Jung, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Nora Lippai ’26 (Molecular and Cell Biology, CLAS) Project Title: Viral-Induced Readthrough Transcription: Characterizing Viral Tactics to Impede Transcription Termination Faculty Mentor: Dr. Leighton Core, Molecular and Cell Biology
Kira O'Brien, Dec. ’24 (Molecular and Cell Biology, CLAS) Project Title: Investigating Bacterial Glycan Utilization in the Reproductive Organ of Euprymna scolopes Using Metagenomic and Cell Culture Approaches Faculty Mentor: Dr. Spencer Nyholm, Molecular and Cell Biology
Bianca Planeta ’25 (Molecular and Cell Biology, CLAS) Project Title: Investigating the Role of ORF1 in the Transposition of the Centromere-Enriched Retroelement G2/Jockey-3 Faculty Mentor: Dr. Barbara Mellone, Molecular and Cell Biology
Arianna Roach ’25 (Molecular and Cell Biology, CLAS) Project Title: Exploring Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance: Examining Loss of Imprint in F1 Hybrid Female Mice Due to X Chromosome Epimutation Faculty Mentor: Dr. Rachel O'Neill, Molecular and Cell Biology
Annette St. Jacques ’26 (Molecular and Cell Biology, CLAS) Project Title: The Effect of Maternal Age on B Chromosome Transmission in Drosophila melanogaster Faculty Mentor: Dr. Stacey Hanlon, Molecular and Cell Biology
Victoria Yi ’25 (Molecular and Cell Biology, CLAS) Project Title: The Basic Structure of Myosin F Needed for Intracellular Survival of Toxoplasma Gondii Faculty Mentor: Dr. Aoife Heaslip, Molecular and Cell Biology