Awards and Scholarships

Rachel Swope

“This recognition really makes me appreciate how much I have grown and learned while at Penn State.  I have my amazing mentors to thank for this! It also makes me feel more confident about pursuing a Ph.D. and a career in research.”

Read more about Rachel and her accomplishments

Read more about Rachel's path to science and her research

Read more about Ananda, Gwen, and Anna and their accomplishments

Ananda Rankin

“I did not think that I would be selected among the hundreds of applicants but it feels good to see this recognition of my hard work. I am truly honored to have been named a Goldwater Scholar.”

Gwen Oliver

“This scholarship will not only impact my life here at Penn State by lifting some financial burdens, it will also open doors in the future, especially as I apply to graduate school.”

Anna Brogan

"I am honored to be among the accomplished students named as Goldwater Scholars and receive recognition for my hard work."

Rosalie Sowers

“I am extremely honored to have been awarded the Goldwater scholarship.  It is gratifying to receive recognition for the hard work that I have put into my research over the past several years.”

Read more about Rosalie and her accomplishments

Alexander Smith

“I'm beyond ecstatic to receive this honor.  This has been the culmination of a lot of hard work. As an aspiring scientist, there is nothing more gratifying or rewarding than having others see the potential in your work and in you as a researcher. Receiving the Goldwater Scholarship has really inspired me to forge ahead and pursue my passion and goal of alleviating suffering through biomedical research.”

Read more about Alexander and his accomplishments

Kalyn Cayne

Peyton Moore

Samantha Grecco

Investigation of the effect of the small RNA FsrA on the structure of its mRNA targets

Anjali McNeal

Interactions between bacterial populations with different type VI secretion systems

Taylor Yount

" The Beckman community has inspired me to push the boundaries of science and innovation, and I am incredibly proud and excited to be a part of it."

Read more about Taylor

Alexis Davison

"It is an honor to have been selected to be a Beckman Scholar and become a member of such an organization where the promotion of discovery for the benefit of humanity remains at its core."  

Read more about Alexis

• Ellie Kim - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Aidan Donnelly - Microbiology
• Elizabeth Giacobe - Microbiology
• Grace Buddle - Biotechnology

• Eilene Deng - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Bryce Katch - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Shay Toner - Microbiology
• Victoria Tachinski - Biotechnology
• Claire Schweitzer - Forensic Science

• Rachel Swope - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
   
• Cassidy Prince - Microbiology
   
• Asvini Krishnaprakash - Biotechnology

• Ananda Rankin - Microbiology
   
• Mengrui Cao - Forensic Science
   
• Rijul Bhimwal - Biotechnology
   
• Kaitline Cole - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

• Rosalie Sowers - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Szu-Yu Kuan - Microbiology
• Caroline Potteiger- Biotechnology

• Matthew Allan - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Mila Tamminga - Microbiology
• Lu Yang - Biotechnology

• Brandon Lee Mouery - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Carmen Gu Liu - Microbiology 
• Katie McNeil - Biotechnology 

• Grace Lee - Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Jarrett Venezia - Microbiology
• Killian McNeill - Biotechnology

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this award shall be to honor and recognize outstanding achievement by an undergraduate student who is enrolled as a Biochemistry major. Consideration for this award shall be given to all undergraduate students beginning their senior year of studies as a Biochemistry major in the Eberly College of Science who have exhibited some exemplary achievement.  The award shall be based on academic achievement and demonstrated leadership potential.

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this scholarship shall be to provide recognition and financial assistance to outstanding students enrolled or planning to enroll in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Consideration for this scholarship shall be given to all full-time undergraduate students enrolled or planning to enroll in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology who have achieved outstanding academic records or who manifest promise of academic success, and who have proven financial need.

Scholarship's Purpose

The scholarship provides recognition and financial assistance to outstanding undergraduate students enrolled in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Consideration for this scholarship shall be given to all junior and senior students enrolled as Biochemistry majors who have achieved superior academic records or who manifest promise of outstanding academic success.   

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this scholarship shall be to provide recognition and financial assistance to outstanding students enrolled in Biochemistry major of the Eberly College of Science. Consideration for this scholarship shall be given to all junior and senior students enrolled as Biochemistry majors who have achieved superior academic records or who manifest promise of outstanding academic success who have a proven financial need and who demonstrate leadership qualities.  

Fund's Purpose

The purpose of this fund shall be to provide grants-in-aid to undergraduate students enrolled or planning to enroll as Chemistry or Biochemistry majors, College of Science.  Consideration for this grant-in-aid shall be given to all undergraduate students enrolled or planning to enroll as Chemistry or Biochemistry majors, College of Science, who have or manifest promise of academic success, have demonstrated good personal qualities and traits, and who will be a credit to the University. 

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this scholarship shall be to provide recognition and financial assistance to outstanding junior and senior students enrolled in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.  Consideration for this scholarship shall be given to all junior and senior students enrolled in BMB who have achieved superior academic records or who manifest promise of outstanding academic success.  Financial need may be a consideration but not a requirement for this scholarship.  

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this award shall be to honor and recognize outstanding achievement by an undergraduate student who is enrolled in the Eberly College of Science, at Penn State University.  Consideration for this award shall be given to all full-time undergraduate students with at least junior standing enrolled in the Medical Technology major in the Department of BMB who manifest a genuine interest in Medical Technology as a career, who have maintained a superior grade record and who show professional promise in the field of Medical Technology. 

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this scholarship shall be to provide recognition and financial assistance to outstanding students enrolled in the Eberly College of Science who plan on pursuing health careers.  Consideration for this scholarship shall be given to all full-time undergraduate students enrolled in the Clinical Laboratory Science option of the Biotechnology major offered in the Eberly College of Science who have achieved superior academic records or who manifest promise of outstanding academic success whose semester is fourth or higher. First preference shall be given to women within the limitations prescribed under Title IX U.S. in the Clinical laboratory Science option who have expressed an interest in a career in a clinical laboratory (for example, in medical technology, or its specialties - blood bank, cytology, hematology, etc.) 

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this scholarship shall be to provide recognition and financial assistance to outstanding undergraduate and graduate students enrolled or planning to enroll in the Department of BMB.  Consideration for this scholarship shall be given to all full-time undergraduate and graduate students who have achieved superior academic records or who manifest promise of outstanding academic success, and who do not otherwise qualify for existing grants and scholarships, but have demonstrated financial need.  Preference shall be given to undergraduate biochemistry students.

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this scholarship shall be to provide recognition and financial assistance to outstanding students enrolled in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Eberly College of Science who have achieved outstanding academic records or manifest promise of academic achievement.  Consideration for this scholarship shall be given to all full-time undergrads who have completed their sophomore year and who will be enrolled as majors in the department with a preference to those studying microbiology who manifest promise of outstanding academic success. 

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this scholarship shall be to provide recognition and financial assistance to undergraduate students majoring or planning to major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology or Microbiology in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State who have demonstrated need to meet their necessary college expenses. Consideration for this scholarship shall be given to full-time undergraduates with preference given to freshman students.

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this award shall be to honor and recognize undergraduate students enrolled in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the Eberly College of Science who have the best thesis paper. Consideration for this award shall be given to all Schreyer Scholars receiving honors in the BMB department who have written a thesis. Recipient of this award shall be nominated by their research adviser and voted on by the BMB department honors advisers.

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this scholarship shall be to provide recognition and financial assistance to full-time undergraduate students majoring in or planning to major in a degree program in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.  Consideration for this award will be given to all students who have demonstrated financial need for funds to meet their necessary college expenses and who have or manifest promise of academic success. 

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this award shall be to provide recognition to undergraduate students enrolled or planning to enroll in the Schreyer Honors College.  Consideration for this award shall be given to students majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this scholarship shall be to provide recognition and financial support to outstanding students enrolled a in Chemistry, Physics, or Biological Sciences major in the Eberly College of Science who have proven need for funds to meet their necessary college expenses.

Scholarship's Purpose

The purpose of this scholarship shall be to provide recognition and financial assistance to students who have achieved superior academic records or who manifest promise of outstanding academic success.  Consideration for this award shall be given undergraduate students enrolled or planning to enroll in the Department of Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and/or the Pre-medicine Program in the Eberly College of Science.

Fellowship's Purpose

The purpose of this fund shall be to enhance the Eberly College of Science at The Pennsylvania State University by providing monies for stipends for undergraduate students in unpaid summer research positions in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Biology.

Recipients of the Fellowship

2023

• Kushaal Chokhany: Faculty Mentor - Paul Cremer
• Heejung Koo: Faculty Mentor - Jordan Bisanz
• Maria Ratnasamy: Faculty Mentor - Santhosh Girirajan
• Jaedon Sadler: Faculty Mentor - Melanie McReynolds

2022

• Alexander Hutsell: Faculty Mentor - Bernhard Luscher
• Gareth Francis: Faculty Mentor - Timothy Miyashiro
• Dean Miller: Faculty Mentor - Jordan Bisanz

2021

• Shay Toner: Faculty Mentor - Joyce Jose
• Victoria LaRow: Faculty Mentor - Maria Krasilnikova

2020

• Benjamin Nasal: Faculty Mentor - Joyce Jose

2019

• Bridget Lunney: Faculty Mentor - Moriah Szpara
• Elizabeth McFadden: Faculty Mentor - Kathleen Postle

2018

• Josef Blaszkiewicz: Faculty Mentor - Wendy Hanna-Rose
• Nicholas Cann: Faculty Mentor - Wendy Hanna-Rose
• Taylor Yount: Faculty Mentor - Timothy Miyashiro

2017

• Catherine Karakasiafshar: Faculty Mentor - Paul Babitzke
• Sarah Sewdass: Faculty Mentor - Gregory Broussard

2016

• Andrew Murtha: Faculty Mentor - Timothy Miyashiro

Fellowship's Purpose

The purpose of fund shall be to supplement departmental support for University Scholars in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Recipients of the Fellowship

2023

• Maria Ratnasamy: Faculty Mentor - Santhosh Girirajan

2022

• Alexander Hutsell: Faculty Mentor - Bernhard Luscher
• Rishika Patil: Faculty Mentor - Wendy Hanna-Rose

2021

• Aidan Donnelly: Faculty Mentor - Timothy Miyashiro

2020

• Julia Cipparulo: Faculty Mentor - Bernhard Lüscher
• Lydia Jordache: Faculty Mentor - Emily Weinert

2019

• Michelle Suhendra: Faculty Mentor - Manuel Llinás

2017

• Ziwei Yang: Faculty Mentor - Craig Cameron

2016

• Julian Stoute: Faculty Mentor - Claire Thomas

Fellowship's Purpose

The purpose of this endowment shall be to enrich the Eberly College of Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University by providing monies in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for stipends for undergraduate students in otherwise unpaid summer research positions in the department who are conducting research projects in faculty laboratories.  

Recipients of the Fellowship

2023

• Maria Ratnasamy: Faculty Mentor - Santhosh Girirajan

2022

• Gareth Francis: Faculty Mentor - Timothy Miyashiro

2021

• Aidan Donnelly: Faculty Mentor - Timothy Miyashiro

2020

• Jordan Ort: Faculty Mentor - Allen Phillips

2018

• Josef Blaszkiewicz: Faculty Mentor - Wendy Hanna-Rose

2017

• Ziwei Yang: Faculty Mentor - Craig Cameron

2016

• Ayush Thomas: Faculty Mentor - Santhosh Girirajan

Fellowship's Purpose

The purpose of this endowment shall be to enrich the Eberly College of Sciences at Penn State, by providing monies in the Department of BMB for stipends for undergraduate students in otherwise unpaid summer research positions in the department who are conducting research projects in faculty laboratories. 

Recipients of the Fellowship

2023

• Niranjan Anoop: Faculty Mentor - Santhosh Girirajan
• Jennifer Miller: Faculty Mentor - Timothy Miyashiro

2022

• Benjamin Chang: Faculty Mentor - Philip Bevilacqua
• Ashley Gelin: Faculty Mentor - C. Denise Okafor
• Alexander Hutsell: Faculty Mentor - Bernhard Luscher
• Ryan Smith: Faculty Mentor - Robert Paulson

2021

• Victoria LaRow: Faculty Mentor - Maria Krasilnikova
• Caroline Ulanoski: Faculty Mentor - Timothy Miyashiro

2020

• Jordan Ort: Faculty Mentor - Scott Phillips
• Sinyoung Jo: Faculty Mentor - Gregory Broussard

2019

• Hannah Snoke: Faculty Mentor - Kenneth Keiler

2018

• Josef Blaszkiewicz: Faculty Mentor - Wendy Hanna-Rose
• Paige Laughlin: Faculty Mentor - Sara Ades

2017

• Austin Wittmer: Faculty Mentor - Timothy Miyashiro
• Ziwei Yang: Faculty Mentor - Craig Cameron

2016

• Julian Stoute: Faculty Mentor - Claire Thomas
• Sydney Miller: Faculty Mentor - Kenneth Keiler
• Timothy Kunz: Faculty Mentor - Shaun Mahony

Fellowship's Purpose

The purpose of this endowment shall be to provide support to a female undergraduate student enrolled in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in the Eberly College of Science at Penn State in the summer following her sophomore or junior year, by providing monies in an otherwise unpaid research position related to her major.  Interested students should complete the application available from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.  

Recipients of the Fellowship

2023

• Maggie Zong: Faculty Mentor - Robert Paulson 

2022

• Ellen Lee: Faculty Mentor - Lorraine Santy

2021

• Lizzie Giacobe: Faculty Mentor - Timothy Miyashiro
• Victoria LaRow: Faculty Mentor - Maria Krasilnikova

2020

• Britney Peachey: Faculty Mentor - Timothy Miyashiro

2019

• Bridget Lunney: Faculty Mentor - Moriah Szpara

2018

• Taylor Yount: Faculty Mentor - Timothy Miyashiro

2017

• Catherine Karabasiafshar: Faculty Mentor - Paul Babitzke

2016

• Sydney Miller: Faculty Mentor - Kenneth Keiler

The Rodney A. Erickson Discovery Grant Program, named in honor of Penn State's seventeenth President, supports undergraduate student engagement in original research, scholarship, and creative work under the direct supervision of a faculty member.

More than seventy Erickson Discovery Grants, each in the amount of $3,500, were awarded for summer 2019.

The Erickson Discovery Grants are directed to student-initiated projects in the arts, engineering, humanities, sciences, and social sciences that provide experience in all facets of the research, scholarship, or creative processes. This includes conceptualization of a question or focus, proposal writing, identification and implementation of methods, and communication of results (reporting, exhibition, or performance). Projects should be primarily the student's own work; although the project may be related to the supervising faculty member's research or scholarly interests, it should not simply provide assistance to faculty work.

The grants may be used to cover living expenses and project costs (supplies, materials, books, specialized software, travel for the purpose of data collection, etc.). Note: Funds will be deposited to student accounts and therefore may have an impact on student aid or be applied to outstanding charges.

2023

• Rachel Cook,"Transgenerational effects of parental environment on interactions between offspring and bacteria"
• Jaedon Sadler, "Investigating NAD+ Flux in Acute Kidney Injury via Isotope Tracing"
• Milap Mistry, "Surveying JNK Signaling in Drosophila models of ALS"
• Sean Zsoldos: "Phosphorylation of Adenosine Under Wet-Dry Cycling Within Coacervates"
• Zane Burris: "Forming Coacervate-Containing Fatty Acid Vesicles in Conditions Mimicking Prebiotic Oceans"
• Kushaal Chokhany, "The Effect of Membrane Surface Charge and Ionic Strength in Solution on FUS Phase Separation Using High-Throughput Arrayed Microfluidic Devices"
• Yuki Yoshida, "The inhibition of Erm methyltransferases in S. aureus to prevent antibiotic resistance"

2022

• Benjamin Chang,"The Biological Function of a Twister Ribozyme at a Splice Junction in Danio Rerio"
• Ashley Gelin, "The evolutionary history of the liver X receptors and the implications for functional specificity"
• Emily Meinert, "Mechanisms of FXR activation by synthetic ligandsr"
• Hannah Mirshahi, "Examining Clathrin Localization at Dendritic Branch Points"
• Rishika Patil: "Investigating the Role of Xanthine Dehydrogenase in the Neurological Function of Caenorhabditis elegans"
• Ayush Sharma: "Novel Synthesis of Vicinal Stereoarrays by an Intramolecular Photochemical Radical Smiles—Truce Cascade"
• Claire Tse, "Development and Characterization of Magnesium—Doped Citrate—Based Biomaterials for Orthopedic Tissue Regeneration"

2021

• Eilene Deng,"Identification of Regions of DSIF Involved in NELF Recruitment"
• Geneva Flarend, "Examining the Effects of Stress on Opioid Use Behaviors"
• Anna Foltz, "Gene Trapping in Drosophila melanogaster"
• Jacob Moyer, "Somatostatin Neuropeptide, A Potential Therapeutic for Binge Drinking Behavior and Anxiety"

2020

• Julia Cipparulo, “Elucidating Gene Expression Changes Implicated in Major Depressive Disorder”
• Carolyn Telfer, “Proposed Mechanism for Conversion of 4-chloro-lysine into 4-chloro-allyl-lysine via BesC
• Eli Sykes, “Degradation of Protein Aggregates via Small Molecule Activation of Autophagy”
• Owen Courtney, “Exploring a Requirement for Mitochondrial Function in Cancer Cell Motility Through Challenging Physical Environments”
• Thomas Starr, “Characterizing the Single Molecule Dynamics of Cellulases in the Presence of Multiple Cellulose Degrading Enzymes”
• Lydia Jordache, “Investigating the Roles of 2',3'-cNMPs in Prokaryotic Stress Response”

2019

• Edward Issertell, "Elucidating the Order of Metal Binding Between EF-hands in Lanmodulin"
• Basel Karim, "Detection of Protein Refolding via a Reverse Environmentally-Sensitive Fluorescent Probe"
• Matthew Mouck, "Bioinformatic Discovery of Novel Riboswitches in the Human Gut Microbiome"
• Guinevere Oliver, "Biophysical and Biochemical Characterization of Mitochondrial Transcription in the Presence of STAT3 and TEAD4"
• Jay Pendyala, "A Mechanistic Study of LipA's Fe-S cluster Regeneration"
• Philip P Ratnasamy, "Understanding Light Touch Sensation in Class III DA Drosophila Neurons"
• Katelyn Rudisill, "Understanding How Cdk5 Localizes Essential Proteins for Proper Neuronal Function in Class 1 DA Drosophila Neurons"
• Rachel Swope, "Identifying a Reporter for Dendrite Regeneration in Neurons of the Drosophila Peripheral Nervous System"

2018

• Anna Brogan, “The Investigation of Antiprotozoal KKL-8692 as a trans-Translation Inhibiting Compound for Antimicrobial Use”
• Kailash Jayachandran, “Determining the Mechanism of NeuroD1 Mediated Reprogramming of Astrocytes into Glutamatergic Neurons”
• Catherine Karbasiafshar, “Exploration of suppressor mutations in a Bacillus subtilis strain deficient for NusA”
• Nicole Laganke, “Investigating the Lethality in NAD+ Deficient nmrk-1 Caenorhabditis elegans in Environments of Oxidative Stress”
• Joash Lake, “Wolbachia Infection: Understanding the Requirements between Aedes aegypti and Wolbachia”
• Fabiola Maldonado, “Neural Excitability and Inflammation in High Fat Diet Induced Depressive-Like Brain States”
• Jessica Smith, “Development of Citrate/Magnesium Phosphate Dual Network Injectable Composites for Orthopedic Tissue Engineering”
• Emily Snell, “In Vitro and Ex Vivo profiling of Antibiotic Properties of Tetrazole Analogs that Target trans-Translation”
• Michelle Suhendra, “Functional Characterization of PF13_0114, an ApiAP2 transcription factor in malaria parasite P. falciparum”
• Jonathan Thomas, “In vivo analysis of the RNA binding domain of the transcriptional pausing factor, NELF”

2017

• Josef Blaszkiewicz,  "Investigation of the metabolic role of an NAD+ biosynthesis pathway in the embryonic development of multicellular organisms"
• Alex Grigas,  "Bilayer Formation on Protocells"
• Rebecca Guth,  "Non-enzymatic RNA polymerization in coacervates"
• Isabel Hunsberger,  "The Search For Resistant Mutants of KKL-896 in Bacteria"
• Wasi Khatri,  "Studying Differential Interactions between Pollen S-Locus F-Box Proteins and Pistil S-RNases Involved in Self/Non-Self Recognition"
• Amogh Kiran, "The Effects of Breaking Spectrin Network via Tobacco Etch Virus Protease on Heart and Fight Muscle in Drosophila"
• Caitlin Komm, "Genomic Instability and DNA Damage in Transdifferentiated Neurons"
• Sanjana Marikunte,  "Investigating the Role of the Cytohesin-2/ARNO Coiled-Coil Domain in Epithelial Cell Migration"
• Christian Morris,  "Determining Brain Regions Underlying an antidepressant-like Phenotype in Mice"
• Aleia Mouchref,  "Investigating trait diversity among Vibrio fischeri symbionts within the squid light organ"
• Andrew Murtha,  "Communication Between Vibrio fischeri Populations within the Squid Light Organ"
• Alexandra Nader,  "Role of Selenium in the Enzymatic Pathways and Phagocytic Functions of Inflamed Macrophages"
• Uyen Nguyen,  "Determining the structure of HelD, a novel binding partner of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase"
• Gregory Reilly, "Examination of Protein-Protein Interaction of GRASP and its Impact on Cell Motility"
• Pratiti Roy, "Mechanisms underlying the effects of edible mushrooms on gastrointestinal health"
• Taryn Ryan, "ClpP Inhibition by 5-hydroxy-8-nitroquinoline"
• Mila Tamminga, "Effects of calcium on microtubule activity after explosive axon injury in Drosophila"

2016

• Jennifer Curtis, “Selenoprotein Effect on Francisella Infection and Replication in Macrophage Cell”
• Adam Fenton,  “Identifying the Molecular Mechanism of Adenylosuccinate Lyase Deficiency, An Inborn Error of Purine Metabolism”
• Steven Griffin,  “Determining Regulatory Proteins of the P25 Transcript in Plasmodium Yoelli”
• Haley Janowitz,  “Elucidation of the Metabolic Function of Adenylosuccinate lyase in Oogenesis and Reproductive Development”
• Paige Laughlin,  “The Investigation of Antibiotic Resistance to Beta-Lactam Antibiotic meropenem”
• Hansa Nawani,  “Study of the Effects of R-loops and G-quartets on Replication Forks Progression”
• Tanmay Patel,  “Characterization of Genes Required by Francisella tularensis for Growth at Cytosolic pH”
• Alexander Smith,  “Genome-wide Screen for Induction of Phosphoethanolamine Modifications on Lipopolysaccharide”
• Rhea Sullivan,  “Characterizing Autism Spectrum Disorder 16p11.2 Deletion in C. elegans

Penn State's annual Undergraduate Exhibition communicates and celebrates the participation of undergraduate students from across the University in scholarly inquiry, research, and creative endeavors. Usually taking place in April, the exhibition provides students from all Penn State campuses the opportunity to enter projects in one of three formats for sharing research and creative inquiry:

• poster presentation: traditional research poster
• oral presentation: students will present their research/creative work in 5 minutes using one PowerPoint slide or one visual display (i.e. an original piece of visual art)
• performance: limited to 5 minutes

Learn more about the Undergraduate Research Exhibition

2021

Category Awards

• Samantha Grecco, Second Place in Physical Sciences - The effect of the small RNA RyhB on the structure of its mRNA targets

2020

Category Awards

• Mollie Comella, Second Place in Physical Sciences - Direct Amplification of Mosquito Blood Meals in Human Identification

Oral Presentation and Performance

• First Place, Tatiana McAnulty - Discovery of Novel Chemotherapeutic Agents Using a Pediatric Glioma Model

University Fellowships and Phi Kappa Phi Peter T. Luckie Awards for Outstanding Juniors

• Erin Kelly, Science and Engineering - Investigating the Protein PF3D7_0420300 as a Potential Drug Target in the Malaria Inducing Parasite Plasmodium falciparum

2019

University Libraries' Undergraduate Research Award: 

• Excellence in Information Literacy - John Sr. and Kimlyn Patishnock Grand Prize
  • Cuyler Luck — Identifying Drug-Drug Interactions Between Experimental Antimalarials
• Honorable Mention 
  • Kushagra Kumar — Testing Potential Inhibitors of the Sigma E Pathway in Escherichia Coli

Category Awards 

• Szu-Yu Kuan (tie), Tied for First Place in Health and Life Science — Investigating the VNTR in the human Dopamine Transporter Gene (DAT1)
• Emily Snell (tie), Tied for First Place in Health and Life Science — Activity of Tetrazole-based trans-Translation Inhibitors in Bacillus anthracis
• Caitlan Surgeon (tie), Tied for Third Place in Social and Behavioral Sciences — Examining the acceptability of using sipIT digital tools to increase fluid consumption in kidney stone patients

University Fellowships and Phi Kappa Phi Peter T. Luckie Awards for Outstanding Juniors

• Ryan Santilli, Yoshitaka Shibata, and John Williamson III, Eberly College of Science — Developing Optimized Protein Molecular Weight Markers Applicable to SDS-PAGE and Western Blot Assays

2018

University Libraries' Information Literacy Award:

• Honorable Mention
  • Rachel Bruning and Joaquim Santos - Investigation of Microbial Diversity Within the Mutualistic Symbiosis Between the Hawaiian Squid and Vibrio Fischeri

Health and Life Science Division:

• Mary Sievers, First Place - Investigating Environmental Factors that Impact Bacterial Antagonism
• Amanda Williams, Second Place - Investigating Environmental Factors that Impact Bacterial Antagonism
• Daniel Ferriss, Third Place - Investigating Axonal Neuroprotection and Dendritic Response to Injury in Drosophila Neurons

Physical Science Division:

• Matthew Tracey, First Place - Small Oligonucleotide Models of the Twister Ribozyme Active Site Reveal No Intrinsic Activity of CA and UA Linkages

2017

Health and Life Science Division

• Erin Vavra, First Place - Characterization of the Role of UIS12 in Plasmodium yoelii Male Gametocyte Activation
• Daniel Snellings, Second Place - The Cost of Color: Investigating Pigmentation as a Bioindicator of Bee Nutrition

2016

Phi Kappa Phi Peter T. Luckie Award for Excellence in Research by a Junior

• Erin Vrana - Assessing the Expression and Vaccine Candidate Potential of UIS12 in Plasmodium yoelii

Health and Life Science Division

• Jesse Larios Valencia, First Place - CysB-regulated Genes of Vibrio fischeri and Heterogeneously Expressed with the Squid Light Organ.
• Elijah LaSota, Second Place - Intraspecific Competition Impacts Vibrio fischeri Strain Diversity During Initial Colonization of the Squid Llight Organ.
• Carolyn Steingard, Second Place - Investigation of Polyclonal Vibrio fischeri Infections within the Squid Light Organ.
• Adam Fenton and Haley Janowitz, Second Place - Elucidating the Mechanism of Reproductive and Locomotive Defects in an Inborn Error of Purine Biosynthesis.
• Samjeris Victor, Third Place - Investigation of the Molecular Targeting Mechanisms for the KKL-10 Class of trans-Translation Inhibitors.
• Sarah Chang, Third Place - Mitochondrial sirtuins Regulate Lifespan.

Course-Based Project Division

• Nathan Arnett, Third Place - Barriers to the Commercialization of Desalination Technologies in the Developing World