News

april 2022

Congratulations to ILS senior Urvi Chowdhury for winning the Winston Family Honors Award for an Outstanding Research Paper, which comes with a $500 monetary prize!

Urvi Chowdhury is an undergraduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park majoring in Neurobiology and Physiology and minoring in Statistics. She hopes to pursue a career in the combined fields of medicine, public health, and global health in order to implement community and organizational based projects that reduce preventable health inequities. On campus, Urvi has been involved with UNICEF UMD to promote humanitarian education, advocacy, and fundraising for children and families around the world, ran a photojournalistic project series called "Disability During COVID-19" with Humans of College Park, and has served as a research assistant for Neuromechanics Research Core, a HLSC100 UTA, and a BSCI207 GSS Leader. Off campus, Urvi is a Community Projects Intern for United Against Inequities in Disease and a Crisis Text Line Counselor.

Description of Research Paper:

"Eliminating Racial Bias from the 2021 CKD-EPI Creatinine eGFR Algorithm" examines the usage of the 2021 CKD-EPI creatinine based equation in healthcare systems and how the algorithim's calculation of the eGFR ensures misdiagnosis of chronic kidney disease for Black patients, especially when declaring severity stage and treatment options. The proposal evaluates literature supporting the inclusion and exclusion of the racial coefficient factor from the CKD-EPI creatinine equation as well as the consequences of utilizing a creatinine based equation to calculate eGFR. Through a complex assessment of biology, mathematics, the social construction and complexities of "race", laboratory costs, and concerns of patient transparency, the proposal advocates for the utilization of a dual model eGFR algorithm that incorporates both creatinine and cystatin C equations.

While health care worker burnout intensifies as a public health crisis during the COVID pandemic, a potential tech-based antidote helped two Terps, including ILS alum Veeraj Shah ‘21, walk away with the $30,000 grand prize at the 2022 Pitch Dingman Competition—just five days after winning the University of Maryland’s 2022 Do Good Challenge with the same app.

Sanketh Andhavarapu ’23, a neuroeconomics/individual studies and biological sciences major, and Veeraj Shah ’21, a health policy and technology/individual studies and biological sciences major, were honored for their startup, Vitalize. The clinician-centric app and web-based dashboard is designed to help hospital leadership reduce employee burnout and promote mental and psychological well-being.

Launched in January 2020, the company participated in Terp Startup, a summer accelerator program for student entrepreneurs hosted by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship. In addition to winning the $5,000 venture track category at the Do Good Institute’s 10th annual Challenge on April 21, it also took home the $1,000 audience choice prize during Tuesday’s event.

“Vitalize isn’t just a startup, it’s a mission,” said Andhavarapu. “We exist to restore the purpose and joy and improve the well-being of health care workers globally so that millions of patients get the best care possible.”

Hosted by the Dingman Center at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and now in its 12th year, the competition returned to an in-person format at the Adele H. Stamp Student Union for the first time since 2019. The final round saw six student teams from a pool of 60 applicants compete for a share of $80,000 in startup funding. For more information please click here to read the full maryland Today article by Paublo Suarez.

Congratulations to Jolie Quiros, an ILS graduating senior who was just named one of Maryland’s Undergraduate Researchers of the Year! An outstanding student and researcher, Jolie Quiros will earn her Bachelor’s of Science in Animal Sciences this May. Jolie has served diligently on the executive board of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Sciences, and Related Sciences (MANRRS), participated in undergraduate research on campus, and received her honors citation from the Integrated Life Sciences Honors Program during her UMD tenure. After graduation, she will be attending veterinary school at Virginia Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine and hopes to become an emergency veterinarian. She will be recognized with a plaque and $1,000 award for this honor. A brief description of her research is below:

Jolie joined the Taneyhill lab in the fall semester of 2019 and has been working there ever since. Before being sent home due to COVID, she was involved in chick embryo work under the supervision of Dr. Ankita Shah. Jolie learned how to open and stage eggs containing chick embryos, and also gained experience embedding these embryos and sectioning them using a cryostat. This work allowed for the frozen, embedded embryos to be sliced into extremely thin sections (13 microns) to then be used in immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays. Jolie became familiar with IHC assays and imaged the sectioned embryos under a confocal microscope.

After Jolie was able to return to the lab, she began work with Dr. Leonard on mouse models. She contributed to Dr. Leonard’s project looking at Elp1 in a conditional knockout model of Elp1 protein in the neural crest cells to serve as a model for the genetic disorder, Familial Dysautonomia. A crucial member of this project, Jolie aided in managing the mouse colony and in performing genotyping for the litters of mice to determine which animals were conditional knockouts. Additionally, she performed IHC assays and have obtained images for Dr. Leonard’s publications on this project.

November 2021

Grant Dong (B.S. '21), who is now with the Divers Alert Network conducting research on decompression sickness – a potentially deadly condition that can occur while scuba diving and is caused by bubbles of nitrogen gas forming in the blood and tissues. Grant credits the Honors College's Integrated Life Sciences (ILS) program with guiding him toward numerous opportunities for research, professional development and community during his time at UMD. In particular, he notes that ILS Associate Director Sabrina Kramer was (and continues to be) a strong advocate and mentor of his. Read more about Grant on the CMNS website. In this article, learn how Grant is merging his diving hobby with decompression sickness research – and how his passion for working with people has led him to pursue medical school.

September 2021

ILS Awards

The annual ILS Service Awards were recently earned by Clarissa Xia and Andrew Yi, congratulations! Clarissa Xia has been volunteering at the UMD Help Center, providing mental health support to peers via empathy, active listening, and crisis coping strategies. As well as volunteering with Terps Against Hunger as a Membership Chair, planning and executing the food packaging events as Co-President this year. She is also a Blood Donor ambassador for the American Red Cross and volunteered at Walter Reed hospital to support the patients. Andrew Yi has been working to assist the immediate and larger community through his involvement in the International Rescue Committee, Doctors Without Borders UMD Chapter and Nonprofit PGC.  ​​

Clarissa Xia Andrew Yi

The Peer Mentor award goes to Daniel Fong, who was nominated by his mentee for his outstanding advice, staying reachable, and encouraging. He explained everything about medical school applications and introduced wonderful opportunities, such as Public Health Beyond Borders. Daniel not only was reachable but also made sure to reach out, making sure that things are going well.

The award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching goes to Apurva Raghu. She is a senior and a TA for a second year for BSCI 330H.  She taught for the first time during the pandemic and for the first time, 330H was taught fully online.  She also taught her own independent activity group (in her own room) on Fridays. She helped students by accommodating their own unique learning style, being patient and encouraging. 

The ILS Research Award goes to Kevin Hu. Kevin has been working in Dr. Jonathan Simon’s lab since Fall 2019. He has worked on two neuroscience research projects investigating cross-frequency coupling in neural responses obtained from human subjects. Importantly and formatively for a young researcher, the first did not work out, not through any fault of his own (in fact despite his best efforts). The second project has been going beautifully (for the past year) and I expect it will soon end up being either a standalone paper(or an integral part of a multi-researcher paper). Dr. Jonathan Simon writes “Kevin is not only performing true quantitative neuroscience research beyond the level of a new graduate student, but he has also shown great strength by not letting the end of his first project discourage him from taking on, and succeeding in, the second”.

Another ILS Research Award goes to Grace Ge. Grace began working in the laboratory at the NIH in the summer of 2019. She did an excellent job in this introductory experience. Although they hoped to bring her back to the lab in the summer of 2020, COVID moved her to a virtual program starting in Fall 2020. Since that time, she has worked diligently on a computational project aimed at identifying new genes associated with elastic fiber production. The project was complex and would typically be performed by someone at the graduate level, but Grace tackled the study with great success. She will present the work at the NIH summer research symposium and they expect her efforts to lead to a first-author manuscript in the coming year.  Dr. Kozel writed “I have been lucky to have Grace in my group the past few years. She is intelligent, creative, inquisitive, and adaptable and has advanced the work of my research group. I believe she will make an excellent scientist in the coming years and deserves the ILS Outstanding Student Research Award”.

ILS MENTOR AWARD goes to Dr. Beth Kozel, Grace’s mentor. Dr Kozel is the head of the laboratory of Vascular and Matrix Genetics. Even though she is extremely busy, she made time for additional meetings to helps students and she encourages them to try different approaches to problem-solving. Her nomination says: “Dr. Kozel is one of the nicest and most approachable people I’ve ever met, and I feel comfortable asking her for advice on everything from career options to balancing a demanding job with adult responsibilities. Dr. Kozel’s approach to mentoring strikes the perfect balance of giving me responsibility and independence while still keeping me on the right track; as a result, I feel that I am beginning to experience the true nature of scientific research”.

August 2021

Congratulations to ILS Assistant Director Ms. Zabrina Anzyl for being recognized as Academic Advisor of the Year for the 2020-2021 academic year! Ms. Anzyl was one of three advisors selected for this award across the university for her work building an inclusive, encouraging, and affirming community within the ILS program. She works primarily with first-year students and is known for empowering students to prioritize self-care in their student experience, leadership development, and 1:1 advising that covers everything from crisis to chronic health concerns and career guidance. The groundwork she laid for student wellness, the Peer Mentor Program, and staff accessibility were crucial for navigating the pandemic, and this bizarre year would have undoubtedly been more difficult without the structures she put in place. Her nomination noted that “This has been a long year for all of us, but Zabrina has risen to the occasion and excelled.” Zabrina has also engaged in an ongoing collaboration with students and leadership to increase ILS’s inclusivity and equity for students from all identities, backgrounds, perspectives, and circumstances. Congratulations Zabrina!

June 2021

Please join us in congratulating our former founder-director Dr. Todd Cooke in his official appointment as Emeritus Professor in CBMG starting July 1st. This is a well-deserved recognition of Todd’s outstanding career and his many contributions to the department and the university in the areas of teaching, research, and service.

Although Dr. Cooke started as a sociology and economics major (then history and literature, and then philosophy), senior-year science courses led Cooke to a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship and eventually a Ph.D. from Cornell. At UMD, he was hired for his research in plant development and evolution and has taught more than 15 different courses over the years. Collaborating with his colleagues, Cooke was instrumental in modernizing the botany/plant biology curriculum and his innovations brought a new, multidisciplinary perspective to life sciences education. In his 42 years at the University of Maryland, Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics Professor Todd Cooke has always had a passion for teaching. And he made it a personal mission to create opportunities for students to succeed. His style as a professor is hands-on and interactive, holding office hours in the Diner and looking for ways to keep students engaged, which made him very well-liked by his students. Of all his academic contributions, there’s one he’s most proud of Dr. Cooke founded and then directed the Integrated Life Sciences (ILS) program in the Honors College since 2011. ILS built an extraordinary track record of achievement, one student at a time. Read more about Professor Cooke's achievement here.

May 2021

Congratulations to senior Sherry Fan, who was not only chosen to be a student speaker for the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences’ Spring 2021 Commencement Celebration, but also is a university medalist!

Sherry Fan will graduate with bachelor’s degrees in both biological sciences and nutrition and food science. The daughter of an immigrant from rural China, Fan grew up in Montgomery County, Md., hearing his stories about not having enough food or freshwater—a motivation to seek ways to help those in dire need. She became a National Merit Scholarship finalist and earned a Banneker/Key Scholarship at the University of Maryland, where she joined the Food Recovery Network to reduce campus food waste and served meals at homeless shelters in Washington, D.C., as a member of UMD Tzu Ching . Moreover, Sherry worked for three years with Professor Wenxia Song on uncovering the cellular relationship between obesity, chronic inflammation and insulin resistance, and spent two summers interning at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. After graduation, Fan will pursue a dual M.D./Ph.D. at Cornell University and hopes to eventually work at an academic medical center to integrate service, research, art and teaching. Read more here.

April 2021

Congratulations to ILS Director Dr. Najib El-Sayed, who will lead the new Advanced Genomic Technologies Core within the Brain and Behavior Institute. Dr. El-Sayed is a professor of cell biology and molecular genetics with a joint appointment in the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies, as well as the ILS director as of spring 2020. For the first time ever on campus, UMD researchers will be able to access single-cell DNA and RNA sequencing technologies.

“The high-throughput and advanced large-scale genomics research made possible by the BBI-AGTC will greatly improve our capabilities in neuroscience and other life sciences in College Park,” said Elizabeth Quinlan, a professor of biology and director of the BBI. “The facility is the first of a number of new BBI-administered cores that will enhance campus research by bringing to UMD new tools and technologies that can be applied to the nervous system.”

Single-cell genomic applications are becoming increasingly important for rare cell detection and the comprehensive classification of biological systems. “Applications of these technologies include identifying new cell types in the human immune response and classifying cancers and their effects—namely, the heterogeneity of cells within a tumor, the evolution of cancer colonies and the responses offered by tissues and cells to cancers’ perturbations,” noted El-Sayed.

El-Sayed’s research uses genomic approaches to study the biology of parasitism. His team develops and applies molecular, computational and systems biology tools to better understand host-pathogen interactions and, ultimately, the mechanisms of infection and survival. His work in functional genomics, tracing how biological information flows from gene to protein expression via RNA transcription, looks to contribute to better diagnosis, prevention of and therapeutics for parasite- and bacteria-caused diseases in humans, animals and plants.

El-Sayed has published more than 90 research papers and serves on the editorial boards of BMC Genomics and PLoS One. He also serves on the National Institute of Health’s Genomics, Computational Biology and Technology study section and the scientific advisory board for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Genomic Centers for Infectious Diseases.

This is the latest career achievement for El-Sayed, who was also the founding director of the Computational Biology, Bioinformatics and Genomics concentration in the biological sciences graduate program. In 2011, he was named a Philip Merrill Presidential Scholar Mentor. Please read more here.

March 2021

Congratulations to senior Pavan Ravindra, who was awarded a prestigious 2021 Churchill Scholarship! Pavan will graduate in May with bachelor’s degrees in biochemistry and computer science and then pursue a one-year Master of Philosophy degree in chemistry at the University of Cambridge. Pavan has been doing research with Pratyush Tiwary (Chemistry & Biochemistry/IPST) since 2018 and was in ILS. Read more here.

February 2021

Veeraj Pranab Shah, ILS senior who co-founded two digital health tech companies was one of 24 students nationwide awarded a 2021 Gates Cambridge Scholarship to pursue graduate study at the University of Cambridge, the Gates-Cambridge Trust. Read more about Veeraj’s wonderful work here.

December 2020

This year's David Goff Scholarship is awarded to Angela Sun, for her distinguished performance in the Integrated Life Sciences program of the Honors College. The David Goff Scholarship is awarded to an ILS student who has demonstrated a commitment to pursuing a career in medicine. Congratulations Angela and we wish you the best in your future medical endeavors!

November 2020

ILSers named as merrill scholars

Congratulations to our three ILSers who have been recognized as Merrill Scholars! The late Philip Merrill, longtime Washington-area publisher and namesake of the university’s journalism college, and his wife, Eleanor, created the program in 2004 to build a community of scholars, faculty members and K-12 teachers who recognize and celebrate the importance of teaching and mentoring the next generation. The program provides $1,000 scholarships, which are awarded in the K-12 teacher’s name to another student from that school district who will attend UMD the following fall. For more details, please visit the article in Maryland Today.

Daniel Oh (Biological Sciences)
Teacher Mentor: Catherine Ulicny, Clarksburg High School, Clarksburg, Md.
Faculty Mentor: Sabrina Kramer, Honors College

Veeraj Pranab Shah (Health Policy and Technology, Biological Sciences)
Teacher Mentor: Theresa Goldberg, Severna Park High School, Severna Park, Md.
Faculty Mentor: Todd Cooke, Biological Sciences

Pavan Ravindra (Biochemistry, Computer Science)
Teacher Mentor: Kelly Wester, River Hill High School, Clarksville, Md.
Faculty Mentor: Pratyush Tiwary, Chemistry and Biochemistry

ILS Awards

ILS MENTOR AWARD goes to Dr. Katharina Maisel. Dr. Maisel is an Assistant Profession in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering. Dr. Maisle's research focuses on modeling and developing nanoparticle interactions and delivery systems for mucosal membranes. Dr. Maisle was nominated by her student, who writes, "Dr. Maisel has been the best mentor I could ask for. I am so inspired by how dedicated she is to her research, while still making time for all of her graduate and undergraduate students. From the first day that I joined Dr. Maisel’s lab, I felt like I was part of a family there. Dr. Maisel is incredibly selfless and committed to her students... She has helped me begin to figure out what a career in research would look like, and the steps that I should take to make that a reality. This was already impressive during the school year, but Dr. Maisel continued to encourage our lab to stay engaged with each other during the summer while everyone was working remotely. We had weekly social meetings where we all talked about everything from how we were coping with being shut in our homes, to the various recipes that we were all encouraging each other to try...I will always appreciate Dr. Maisel for providing me with such a wonderful opportunity to experience what research in bioengineering looks like. She will always be a role model and inspiration for me." Congratulations to Dr. Maisel and thank you for being such a supportive mentor and role model.

We had such exceptional submissions for the ILS Service Award this year that we felt compelled to recognize the contributions of two students. Radhika Gholap is a graduating senior who has contributed to her community in numerous ways, including as a Level 5 Crisis Counselor for the Crisis Text Line, which is a national tool that connects individuals navigating mental health crises, abusive relationships, anxiety, and more with appropriate resources. As part of her work with Terps for Change, Radhika has worked with community partner CASA-Mi Espacio mentoring Hispanic youth. Additionally she works with patients at the Howard County Office of Aging and the Weinberg Women's Health Clinic. She is also the co-President of AMSA and an ILS Mentor for the second year. Alythis Vo is a junior who has dedicated many hours to the mission of combating food insecurity in her community through the Campus Pantry, Food Recovery Network, and the Capital Area Food Bank since her first year of college. She went to Harlan, KY for an Alternative Break trip and saw firsthand how food insecurity was just on repercussion of economic circumstances in that region. Additionally, she volunteers regularly with the Pregnancy Aid Center in College Park, Latino Health Initiatives in Montgomery County, and has been making COVID test kits with Quest since the pandemic began.

Radhika Gholap Alythis Vo

ILS RESEARCH AWARD goes to Chaitali Chitnis, who was nominated by her mentor, Dr. Andrea Simone Baechler. Chatali worked with Dr. Baechler at the Developmental and Therapeutics Branch of the National Cancer Institute for two years. Dr. Baechler wrote, “Although I am highly selective when accepting students, I could not have hoped for a better student to work with me… Indeed, she has been one of these exceptionally rare students, who are willing to run several extra miles to achieve outstanding results. For instance, she initiated a review of the literature on inflammatory responses in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Building off this work, she developed her own theoretical hypothesis and translated these insights into numerous experiments. Strikingly, she identified how deficiency of mitochondrial topoisomerase I provokes an inflammatory response in the liver. To put this finding into context: her work easily compares to advanced graduate level work. It is truly exceptional and remarkable! Chaitali certainly ranks amongst the very best students that I ever had the privilege to work with (i.e., Top 1%)…A particularly intriguing aspect has been her ability to critically reflect on her own work and identify compelling solutions to pressing challenges. Finally, her hardworking mentality and first-class work ethics made Chaitali an extremely promising student and future researcher. Besides these outstanding personal credentials, which are all together truly important, I am deeply impressed by her determination and kind personality. In fact, Chaitali belongs to the rare group of students, who are not only gifted with excellent scientific skills and abilities, but also excel through a kind personality and deep social engagement. One of her most notable personal characteristics is that she is genuinely passionate about scientific research and furthering the greater public good…”

Each year, students can be nominated by their peers, their students or their supervisors as outstanding undergraduate teachers. This is the first year that we have two award winners. David Rekhtman was nominated for his work as a UTA for BSCI 330H. He is teaching the course for the second time this fall. Last year, David helped to revise exams, and streamline grading to make it faster and more equitable among the UTAs. This past summer, David spent many hours working with Dr. Kramer to develop an online learning environment for BSCI330H which maintained the previous active learning structure along with regular assignments and formative assessment. He volunteered his time in the summer to move assignments into ELMS quizzes, set up deadlines, and now works with students weekly to go over problem sets and check student learning. Dr. Kramer wrote, “There is a lot that goes into designing and running a good course. David was instrumental in improving Cell Biology and moving it online well. With his help, the class incorporates what we know helps student learn: regular low-stakes formative assessments, active learning, and lots of opportunities to for students to work with teachers. I’m proud of Cell Biology, and if it wasn’t for David it just wouldn’t be as good a class this year. David is thoughtful, caring, and selfless when it comes to his time, and I am very lucky to have him as one of my UTAs.”

Josh Steighner was nominated for his outstanding work as an undergraduate teaching assistant (UTA) for genetics (HLSC 322). He has been a UTA for this course for two years and will be returning for a third year this coming spring. He was nominated both by student and a fellow UTA. He was the only experienced UTA in HLSC 322 with an instructor new to the course, Dr. Pick and when the course had to abruptly move to a fully online format last spring along with the rest of the campus. He was instrumental in making sure the face-to-face discussion moved online smoothly, as well as bringing his experience and knowledge to the table to help fellow UTAs with their lesson plans. One of his students wrote, “He responded to our email quickly and was really supportive when we switched to online learning…Josh went above and beyond as a UTA for our class which I truly appreciate.”

june 2020

ILS founding director Dr. Todd Cooke steps down

Dr. Todd Cooke, the founder of the Integrated Life Sciences Program who launched this visionary experiment in 2011, has stepped down from the Director role to spend more time conducting research in his greenhouses. An innovative and perceptive scientist, Dr. Cooke is renown for his life chats, mentorship, office hours in the Stamp and the Diner, and modern pedagogy. He aspired to train the next generation of talented scientists across disciplines, and grew ILS from 50 brave students in the inaugural cohort to nearly double that in almost a decade.

Students from ILS have gone on to earn admission to the top graduate and professional schools in the country, rack up awards for research, service, and scholarship, earn fellowships and internships to world-class organizations on the cutting edge of innovation, and use their myriad talents to contribute to a better world. Todd was always available to lend an ear to a career path crisis, give extra help in organismal biology, and affirm for students that their path was as unique as they were with a millions ways to be successful and happy, and not just a linear trajectory to travel.

Todd’s accolades over the years include a Guggenheim Fellowship and a College Teaching Excellence award, plus three Center for Teaching Excellence-Lilly Foundation Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching awards for designing and/or implementing innovative undergraduate courses. Dr. Cooke was named a Life Science Education Fellow of the National Academies for 2009-2010.

Todd we will miss you very much, but are so grateful for your tremendous contributions to science, Maryland, and the greater world. We are honored to carry ILS forward with the foundation you carefully built, and we promise to always “run the experiment.” Enjoy your plants!

eddie zhang named Fulbright scholar

Congratulations to Eddie Zhang, who was just named a Fulbright Scholar! When Edwin Zhang arrived at the University of Maryland as a freshman in the fall of 2015, he knew that being a biological sciences major would offer him a world of academic possibilities. He knew about the potential research opportunities and chances to showcase his work. What he did not know is that he would fall in love with an entirely different part of the educational experience: teaching.

Now, as a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship, Zhang will have the opportunity to take his love of teaching international as an English teaching assistant in Taiwan.

“I really, really enjoy teaching. It’s something I was doing three to four days out of the week, in addition to my studies,” said Zhang, who graduated in May 2020 with his bachelor’s degree. “When I learned about the Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program through the Honors College, I applied because it seemed like a great opportunity and lined up with what I enjoy doing.”

Zhang began teaching during his freshman year when he volunteered with the Maryland Family Literacy Program. He helped elementary-school students learn to read and also helped parents—often immigrants—learn how to better support their children’s literacy. Zhang’s parents are Chinese immigrants, so being able to support these families in this way was special to him. “I enjoy working with kids,” Zhang said.  You can read more about Eddie and his work here.

April 2020

ilsers serve their communities in unique ways during COronavirus

Service is a core tenet of the ILS program, and all of our students commit to a community partner for a standard number of hours to support that partner’s mission in their first year. Several ILS students have been inspired to meet the emergent needs of their communities during the coronavirus global pandemic in creative and thoughtful ways.

Amid the disruption of education across the state, first-year Angela Sun, and senior Sanyukta Deshmukh, a BIOE pre-health major, have launched tutoring support services to match eager tutors with students to coach them in subjects K-12. The tutors interface virtually with their students for free, and are likely a welcome tool for students and to parents thrown into at-home education for the first time. First-years Chase Singer, a Physiology and Neurobiology pre-med major, and Zain Shamsuddin, a BIOE pre-health major organized a flyer campaign and food drive to tackle food insecurity for their neighbors. They created a plan to advertise a request for donations, then to collect and deliver them to local food banks.

These are just a few examples and everyone’s circumstances are different, and it’s really wonderful to see these young scientists meeting a need where they can.

ILS ALUMS win National Science Foundation graduate fellowships

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has just announced that 3 ILS alumni - Lily Durkee (Ecology, 2018), Mariya Shevchuk (Chemical Engineering, 2018), and Caitlyn Singam (Systems Engineering, 2020) - have been awarded the prestigious NSF Graduate Fellowships that will support their Ph.D.studies in their respective disciples.  NSF fellowships are awarded not only for these students' outstanding undergraduate research accomplishments but also for their considerable potential to do cutting-edge research in the future.  Congratulations to Lily, Mariya, and Caitlyn!

Mariya earned her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering, and while on campus, she conducted research with Dr. John Fisher where she worked to develop a bioengineered placenta model to study preeclampsia. She is now pursuing a Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin and is working with Dr. Nicholas Peppas. The title of her NSF project is "Design of a System for Temporally Controlled Release of Growth Factors for Bone Regeneration." Mariya shared a wonderful quote with Director Dr. Todd Cooke when sharing her exciting news, “I would like to thank you and the entire ILS community for creating an environment that allowed me to pursue my interests and prepare for a career in research.” We are so proud

Lily earned her undergraduate degree in biology and minored in statistics and creative writing. She conducted research in Dr. Dan Gruner’s lab on macroinvertebrate diversity in an urban wetland and earned High Honors in Entomology for her honors thesis “Can Goose Exclusion Impact the Benthic Macroinvertebrate Community of a Restored Freshwater Marsh?” Lily is currently in the first year of her MS program at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado working with Dr. Ruth Hufbauer. The title of her NSF project is “Rapid Evolution to Pollution and Pesticides: Impacts of Migration on the Probability of Adaptation to a Degraded Environment.”

Our students shared some kind and pride-inducing comments: Mariya shared, “I would like to thank you [Dr. Cooke] and the entire ILS community for creating an environment that allowed me to pursue my interests and prepare for a career in research.” Additionally, Lily stated “Thank you for all that you and ILS did to get me started on my career path in the sciences.” We are so incredibly proud of you!

march 2020

two ils students win prestigious goldwater scholarships

For the third year in a row, the University of Maryland’s four undergraduate nominees have been awarded scholarships by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, which encourages students to pursue advanced study and research careers in the sciences, engineering and mathematics. 

The two ILSers awarded scholarships are Seungtaek Daniel Oh, a junior majoring in biological sciences with a specialization in cell biology and genetics and Pavan Ravindra, a junior biochemistry and computer science dual-degree student.

Over the last decade, UMD’s nominations yielded 33 scholarships—the most in the nation, followed by Stanford University with 32. Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University also rank in the top 10.

“Our scholars are a uniquely talented group, already making discoveries in their fields of study—from developing more stable batteries and innovative power supplies to streamlining the pathway of drug design and understanding the contributions of RNA in cancer and other diseases,” said Robert Infantino, associate dean of undergraduate education in the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. Infantino has led UMD’s Goldwater Scholarship nominating process since 2001.

Oh and Ravindra were among the 396 Barry Goldwater Scholars selected from 1,343 students nominated nationally this year. Goldwater Scholars receive one- or two-year scholarships that cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to $7,500 per year. These scholarships are a stepping-stone to future support for the students’ research careers. The Goldwater Foundation has honored 70 UMD winners and five honorable mentions since the program’s first award was given in 1989. To read more about their research and the other winners, please click here.

Three ILS students selected for oxford Study abroad

Congratulations to three ILS students who have been accepted for study abroad opportunities with Oxford University next year: Emily Kraft, Brianna Banting, and Bennett Yang.

Emily Kraft is currently a sophomore double majoring in Neurophysiology and Psychology. In addition to rigorous coursework, Emily is an Honors Ambassador, A Rising Researchers, and conducts research in the MacLeod lab on campus. Her research includes studying auditory neurophysiology in the avian cochlear nuclei. Her most recent project focuses on axonal pathways in the nucleus angularis. Her career goals include ultimately earning a Ph.D.

While abroad, Emily is going to be in the Experimental Psychology program at St. Edmund Hall in Spring 2021 (Hillary and Trinity terms). She will study Cognitive Psychology and Adolescent Psychology as her two primary tutorials and Case Studies in Neuropsychology and Developmental Questions in Science and Religion as two secondary tutorials. 

Brianna Banting is a Biochemistry and Cell Biology & Genetics double major. Last summer she worked on a sequencing project in Dr. Yi-Wen Chen’s lab at Children’s National Medical Center in their Center for Genetic Medicine Research. The project has recently been funded by the National Institutes of Health, and she is returning to the lab to work on it again.

Brianna also assists a graduate student in Dr. Shawn He’s lab in the bioengineering department at UMD. She hopes to enter an MD/Ph.D. program after graduation. Brianna will be studying at St Edmund Hall for the full academic year: Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity terms. She will study three primary tutorials: properties of proteins, enzymes, and biophysical chemistry, and three secondary tutorials: chromosome structure & function, protein folding, and genes & control of gene expression. She also plans to participate in some research opportunities while I am studying at Oxford. 

Bennett Yang is a sophomore majoring in Physiology and Neurobiology and Economics with a minor in Religious Studies. He is the head recovery leader for the North Campus Diner as part of the Food Recovery Network which distributes food that is normally discarded at the diner to the surrounding PG County/DC area. He is also a mentor for America Counts, a tutoring program for Title I elementary schools to give underprivileged students a greater advantage in mathematics.

Bennett also participated in an internship at the NIH NCI over the summer in Dr. Cheng's lab. He researched the tumor microenvironment and inflammatory responses of macrophages in thyroid carcinomas. He now researches LAM, a neoplastic disease, in Dr. Maisel's lab in the Bioengineering Department.

Bennett will be studying at St. Edmund Hall for the Hilary and Trinity trimesters. He will take two primary courses in biomedical sciences: Immunology and Microbiology, and Integrative Systems Physiology. His secondary courses are in biochemistry: Biophysical Chemistry and Integration of Mammalian Metabolism. He is currently on the premedical path and hopes to attend medical school after graduation.

four ils students and ILS Director tapped for ODK Honors

This spring four ILS students, Sydney Sharp, Ben Hung, Radhika Gholap and Seungtaek Daniel Oh were tapped for Omicron Delta Kappa Signma Circle honors. Additionally, ILS Director Dr. Todd Cooke was tapped for membership after being nominated by a student contingent. The ODK honor society recognizes those who have significantly contributed to the University of Maryland ins five areas: Scholarship, Athletics, Campus or Community Service, Mass Media, and the Creative Arts and to inspire others to strive for conspicuous attainment along similar lines. Members are recognized for their achievements with their names engraved on the ODK fountain in the heart of the mall in the center of campus. For more information on ODK, please click here.

february 2020

ILS alum named gates-cambridge scholar

Goff Scholarship Winner: Michelle Fang

The UMD Honors College is proud to announce that ILS sophomore Michelle Fang has been awarded the Dr. David Goff Scholarship in recognition for her academic and co-curricular excellence in preparation for a career in medicine. The Honors College thanks the Glazer family who established this scholarship program to honor the memory of their dear friend Dr. Goff.

Michelle is an outstanding student who is taking challenging course loads to complete the double major of Biological Sciences (specialization: Cell Biology and Genetics) and of Computer Science. During 3 research internships at the National Cancer Institute, Michelle has participated in research projects on the roles of the gene interferon lambda 4 (IFNL4) in the activation of antiviral immune responses and the suppression of viral replication. Her research has already resulted in the publication of two co-authored papers, and the recent submission of one first-authored and another co-authored paper.

Michelle has served as a counselor at Special Love, a summer camp for children suffering from cancer, and as a Red Cross volunteer supporting the recoveries of wounded veterans at Walter Reed Medical Center. Lastly, Michelle is an active member of a research team composed of 5 undergraduate women that won the campus-wide Terps in Space competition in order to study the formation of microbial biofilms in microgravity on the International Space Station. Michelle is planning to apply to combined MD/PhD programs in order to prepare herself to carry out innovative translational research for designing new therapeutic strategies.

December 2019

Two ILSers named Rhodes Scholarship Finalists

University of Maryland senior Maïgane Diop and alumnus Nipun Kottage were among the finalists for this year’s Rhodes Scholarships, the world’s most prestigious award for international study. Diop is majoring in biological sciences and minoring in philosophy; Kottage received Bachelor of Science degrees in both biochemistry and anthropology in 2019.

“Congratulations to Maïgane and Nipun on this well-deserved honor,” said Amitabh Varshney, dean of UMD’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS). “These remarkable students have already made extraordinary contributions in research, public service and leadership here at Maryland and I can’t wait to see how they make their mark on the world.”

Diop and Kottage were among 236 Americans selected for Rhodes finalist interviews held this past weekend in cities around the country. Only 32 were selected to represent the United States as 2020 Rhodes Scholars.

“Both Maigane and Nipun are outstanding students and extraordinary people,” said Todd Cooke, a UMD professor of cell biology and molecular genetics and the director of the Integrated Life Sciences program in the Honors College. “Their praiseworthy accomplishments at UMD suggest very strongly that their future contributions as physician-scientists will profoundly impact the quality of health care in underserved and marginalized communities all over the world.”

UMD has had two Rhodes Scholars in the 115-year history of the program—both from CMNS: Fang Cao (B.S. ’15, biological sciences, also from ILS) and the Hon. Charles Thomas “Tom” McMillen (B.S. ’74, chemistry).

Maïgane Diop

A member of the Integrated Life Sciences program in the Honors College and a Banneker/Key Scholar, Diop also participated in the university’s Federal Fellows Program. She is co-founder and co-president of Gove: Advocates for Women’s Health, a student organization that develops and coordinates service projects to increase outreach, civic engagement and service in our local community. Diop also served as an experience leader for UMD’s Alternative Breaks program, planning and leading a 10-day immersive service-learning experience in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, focused on community development projects.

Since 2017, Diop has been conducting research with Antony Jose, an associate professor of cell biology and molecular genetics at UMD. She is working on a project aimed at understanding how organisms regulate gene expression to maintain similar form and function across generations in the nematode C. elegans. She has characterized the roles of key molecules and proteins that cells use to recover stable gene expression after environmentally induced changes. These findings may one day help design new interventions for human diseases that originate from heritable changes in gene expression. For further details about Diop and her work, please click here.

Nipun Kottage

Kottage was a member of the Integrated Life Sciences program in the Honors College, a recipient of the four-year President’s Scholarship, and a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society.

Since graduating, he has worked with UMD African American Studies Professor Joseph Richardson to explore how violently injured black men experience and communicate trauma. Currently, he is conducting a research project to analyze the geospatial distribution of gun violence in Washington, D.C. to better coordinate hospital and community-based violence prevention services. As an undergraduate, he examined the mechanisms of photochemical reactions with Professor Daniel Falvey in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

As a senior at UMD, Kottage served as president of UMD’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders, directing community-based engineering projects in Ghana, Nicaragua, Peru, Sierra Leone, Nepal, Puerto Rico and Maryland with an annual budget of $120,000. Kottage’s work in Ghana, which involved leading the assessment, design, and implementation of a $30,000 well and water distribution project, formed the basis for his honors thesis in anthropology. Mentored by Anthropology Associate Professor Thurka Sangaramoorthy, he presented his thesis research at the 2018 Engineers Without Borders National Conference in San Francisco. Locally, Kottage initiated an Engineers Without Borders partnership with Lewisdale Elementary School in Prince George’s County to implement a stormwater management solution and to expose students to engineering careers. For additional information about Kottage and his work, please click here.

Congratulations finalists!

july 2019

ILS team launches experiment into space

Congratulations to the all-female team of ILS scientists whose experiment launches into space on July 24, 2019! Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) will carry out the experiment that tests bacteria’s ability to grow on different surfaces in microgravity. Their experiment was selected from numerous proposals by UMD’s Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP), known as Terps in Space.

The team members, Debbie Adam, Michelle Fang, Niki Gooya, Swarnapali “Pali” Keppetipola and Apurva Raghu are all members of the Integrated Life Sciences program in the Honors College, and are all rising sophomores. This is the second ILS team in three years to be selected for their experiment to be launched into space.

Each of them took pride in being a member of an all-female research team. “I’m extremely proud of our team because the participation of women in science is not as prominent as it should be,” Adam said. “The fact that we have made it this far is really important to me.”

Gooya was the first of the group to enter the space race. “I participated in SSEP in eighth grade, although my team’s project did not get sent to space,” said Gooya, who attended Burleigh Manor Middle School in Ellicott City, Maryland. “When I found that Maryland participated in the program, I jumped on it and got my friends to join me.”

The students designed an experiment to study slimy layers of bacteria called biofilms. Biofilms stick to each other and to virtually any surface more strongly than a single bacterium can. They are difficult to get rid of and can lead to human illness. Previous research has also shown that biofilms grow more readily in microgravity, making them an important issue to address on the ISS. For more information, click here for Irene Ying’s full story.

ILSer wins Summer undergraduate award

The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) Alumni Network has announced its 2019 Undergraduate Summer Research, Travel and Educational Enrichment Award winners.

The four recipients will receive awards up to $2,000 to help defray costs related to conducting research or traveling to field courses, conferences or other summer activities that enhance or expand the student’s educational and professional development. Congratulations to Leonard Liu, a biological sciences major, who plans to conduct research in the laboratory of David Fushman, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UMD. Liu will investigate the physical structure of proteasomes, which are large protein complexes that are linked to many diseases including cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

For more information and to see the other winners, click here.

May 2019

ILS alum earns National Science Foundation grad fellowship

Ten current students and recent alumni of the University of Maryland’s College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) received prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships, which recognize outstanding graduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  Congratulations to ILS alum Philip Johnson (B.S. ‘18, biological sciences), who is one of these prestigious recipients.

“The NSF Graduate Research Fellowships are highly competitive,” said CMNS Dean Amitabh Varshney. “It is gratifying to see our students recognized at this level for their dedication to their discipline and their commitment to using their knowledge to advance society.”

Philip is co-advised by Dr. Anne Simon at UMD and Dr. Bruce Shapiro at the NCI in Frederick. He studies RNA structures in the genomes of positive-strand RNA viruses of plants, namely viruses in the family Tombusviridae. He uses molecular biology techniques and computational techniques, such as 3-D modeling and molecular dynamics simulations, to study how these structures regulate and promote the translation of these viruses, which are used as model systems for noncanonical translation in eukaryotes. He will be pursuing his Ph.D. in the BISI program at UMD with a concentration in CBBG. For more information, please click here.

ils senior amelia hurley-novatny named undergraduate researcher of the year

Congratulations to Amelia Hurley-Novatny on being recognized as an Undergraduate Researcher of the Year for 2019! Nominated by Dr. John Fisher, Amelia was presented with a plaque and prize of $1,000. For three years, Amelia conducted research in Dr. John Fisher's Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Lab at UMD. Her honor's thesis project developed a 3D culture method for spatial presentation of cues to induce differentiation of stem cells into multiple lineages, which has previously been a challenge for engineering constructs with multiple cell types. Using this system, they were able to differentiate and maintain the three distinct cell types of the bone-tendon interface. This provides a preliminary construct for a tissue engineered bone-tendon interface aimed to reduce failure rate following surgical repair of a tendon injury. 

april 2019

ILS Alum linda powers (‘15) honored with maryland award

Linda Powers is a proud ILS alumna and 2019 DDS candidate at the University of Maryland School of Dentistry. She is one of seven Terps honored at the University of Maryland Alumni Association’s first annual Celebration of Terps: Featuring the Maryland Awards. She will be the inaugural recipient of an award in her name, meant to recognize an individual who has made significant contributions to fostering diversity and inclusion nationally and globally.

"We are honored to bestow the highest-level awards that alumni can receive from the university," said Amy Eichhorst, executive director of the Alumni Association. "We are proud of what our honorees have accomplished, both personally and professionally, and we uphold these individuals as icons to our students, alumni and the broader community."

During her time at College Park she had the opportunity to help organize multiple mission trips to provide basic dental care to underserved communities. Patients walked miles to reach the mobile clinics and were so grateful to receive treatment. Those experiences inspired her to do even more good by founding “Miles for Smiles”, a 5k event that aims to raise awareness about the importance of oral health and raise funds for future dental missions. She is graduating this May with her D.D.S. from the University of Maryland School of Dentistry, where she serves as class president and remains active in volunteer work, including her annual return to McKeldin Mall to help with the Miles for Smiles 5k. She looks forward to spreading more smiles as she pursues her career in dentistry and supports the efforts of the Do Good community. You can read more about Linda and the other honorees here.

ILSer wins 2019 Winston award for short essay

Congratulations to ILS first-year student Christine Johnson, who was recognized for her short essay “The Effects of Climate Change on Infectious Disease." Christine is a cell biology major who is passionate about environmental sustainability and examining the ripple effects of climate change. She is also an active proponent of the Bee Keeping Club on campus, and is well versed in the challenges facing pollinators. In March 2019, Christine traveled with her fellow ILSers to Topsail Island, North Carolina on an Alternative Spring Break trip to work at a sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation center. Well done Christine!

march 2019

Veeraj Shah on team that wins gold public health innovation competition

 The teams behind Q Chat Space and ChatHealth each took home half of the $5,000 in prize money at the 2018 Gold Public Health Innovation Competition. Established with a gift from SPH founding Dean Robert Gold and his wife, Barbara, the competition is intended to spark public health innovation, design thinking, and solutions to the world’s most complex public health issues.

Biological sciences and public health science major Veeraj Shah and computer science major Neil Johnson developed the winning entry ChatHealth, which can answer student questions about vaccines using AI and machine learning. Their goal is to address vaccine misinformation and increase the numbers of college students taking vaccines for preventable diseases like HPV, which is responsible for 99% of cervical cancers, and influenza, for which fewer than half of college students regularly get vaccinated.

Johnson and Shah, sophomores who both received the HPV vaccine as children, expressed surprise at how many of their peers haven’t gotten vaccinated and still don’t due to a lack of understanding about the effectiveness of vaccines. Working with the University Health Center, the Student Health Advisory Committee and the UMD Help Center, they hope to roll out ChatHealth on campus by Spring 2020 and envision deploying it at other universities. To learn more please click here.

Natalia ochman wins fulbright scholarship to poland

Congratulations to ILS senior bioengineering major Natalia Ochman, who was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student Program English Teaching Assistantship Scholarship in Poland for the 2019-2020 academic year. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program was initiated in 1945 by Senator J. William Fulbright to promote international goodwill “through the exchange of students in the fields of education, culture, and science.” Fulbright scholars travel to 140 countries to exchange ideas, work toward common goals, and learn from each other’s experiences. Fulright is the largest opportunity for students and graduate students to undertake international study, advanced research, and teaching from primary school up through university classrooms. For more information on the Fulbright scholarship program, please click here.

In addition to being a student in the Integrated Life Sciences Honors College program, Natalia is a recipient of the Maryland Presidential Scholarship. She also helped design and create an educational non-profit, FLAME (Foundational Learning and Mentoring Experience) that engaged UMD students in mentoring roles with over 100 elementary and middle school students in local Title I schools. Natalia is also a certified Emergency Medical Technician with the Beltsville Volunteer Fire Department, and she plans to volunteer with a Polish ambulance company to continue building on that training. Natalia plans to attend medical school when she returns to the United States.

ILS Alum yousuf khan named knight-hennessy scholar

Congratulations to Yousuf Khan (B.S. ‘18, biological sciences), ILS Alum and Churchill Scholar who has now earned the prestigious Knight-Hennessy Scholarship from Stanford University. Yousuf is one of 69 scholars selected worldwide to pursue an advanced degree at Stanford that is fully funded. “I’m very excited about this award because of the chance to work with the other Knight-Hennessy Scholars on great interdisciplinary projects that I wouldn’t be able to do otherwise,” said Khan, who plans to pursue a Ph.D. in molecular and cellular physiology at Stanford. “Plus, my sister lives very close to Stanford, and it will be great to be near family.”

Knight-Hennessy Scholars is the largest fully funded endowed scholars program on the planet, and their goal is to develop a community of future global leaders to address complex challenges through innovation and collaboration. “Yousuf’s accomplishment in becoming the University of Maryland’s first Knight-Hennessy Scholar is built on years of highly productive research in labs, in addition to his exceptional commitment to helping others achieve their own goals as a tutor, teaching assistant and community leader,” said Francis Duvinage, director of the National Scholarships Office in the Office of Undergraduate Studies at UMD.For more information about the Knight-Hennessy Scholars, please click here and here. We are so excited for you Yousuf!

mark cerasoli awarded study abroad to oxford

Congratulations to ILS sophomore and microbiology and public policy major Mark Cerasoli for earning acceptance to the University of Oxford for Spring 2020 with the Institute for Study Abroad (IFSA). The goals for IFSA students include not just academic achievements, but professional and personal development as well. Students are encouraged to explore the world from an international lens and experience the host culture in a symbiotic exchange. Mark will be studying cellular pathology and physiology as well as advanced pharmacology and immunology.

february 2019

ils team project selected for International space station

For the second time in three years, a Terps In Space team, comprised entirely of ILSers, has had their project selected to be launched to the International Space Station. Congratulations to first-year students Pali Keppetipola, Debbie Adam, Michelle Fang, Apurva Raghu, and Niki Gooya! Their project, titled Biofilm adhesion of E. coli to Annealed Porous and Smooth Aluminum in Microgravity, aims to tackle communities of microorganisms which can facilitate the development of diseases such as atherosclerosis and leptospirosis. Deterring biofilm growth on long missions can have a tremendous impact on disease prevention and astronaut health. So thrilled to see your project at work in space!

do good Accelerator Space Officially Opens in Discovery District, ilser at ribbon cutting

On February 13, the Do Good Institute held a grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting, which celebrated our students, supporters and University of Maryland's growing Do Good Campus. The Do Good Accelerator is a collaborative space on campus that supports and helps to scale up students' innovative solutions to our world's most pressing challenges. With the new space, the Institute is offering a number of training, development and networking opportunities to enable promising student and alumni-led nonprofits, projects and socially-minded businesses the chance to grow their reach and impact. 

During the ribbon cutting, guests heard from President Wallace Loh, School of Public Policy Dean Robert Orr, Do Good Institute Director Robert Grimm, District Stormwater CEO Kahlil Kettering (’15), and Natalia Ochman (’19), co-founder of FLAME.

“At University of Maryland we’re pioneering a new model of higher education, the Do Good Campus, which is about engaging every student in experiences from orientation to graduation, inside and outside the classroom that help them take their ideas and transform the world,” said Robert Grimm, director, Do Good Institute. “We’re providing the resources, opportunities, experiences, and connections to enable all students to make a difference for the issues they care about. Then, we will accelerate a team through the stages of impact and innovation; walking, running, and flying toward their goal of transforming the world for good.” You can read more here.

ILSers study abroad: Spring 2019

Every year, many of our students choose to study abroad to pursue their educational goals, build relationships with new people, and connect with a culture different from their own. There is so substitute for exploring the world beyond what you have always known! Here are a few of our students who are abroad right now.

January 2019

jae jung earns sejong scholarship

Congratulations to Jae Jung, the first ILS recipient of a Sejong Scholarship! The Sejong Scholarship Foundation of America was founded in 1997 by first generation Korean Americans to give back to the community and support young talent. This particular scholarship is named after Korean King Sejong, who is recognized by history as the creator of the Korean alphabet. King Sejong valued talent and intellect regardless of social class, and in that spirit SSFA recognizes young scholars by giving them the means to succeed. 

Jae is a sophomore bioengineering student. He described his unique immigrant experience as a Korean American as well as the research in his current internship while pursuing a rigorous to a high level in his winning application.

lara youniss wins Goff Scholarship

Congratulations to Lara Youniss for being awarded the Goff Memorial Scholarship! The Goff Scholarship is dedicated to the memory of Dr. David M. Goff, and made possible by the generosity of Michael and Ellen Glazer, friends of the Goff family.

The scholarship is awarded to a student in the Integrated Life Sciences Honors College living-learning program who is strongly committed to pursuing a career in medicine. Lara is a sophomore pursuing double degrees in physiology and neurobiology as well as Spanish language and literature. She was recognized for her outstanding academic record and commitment to service with summer camps for children with developmental disabilities and from underserved communities. Lara is heading to Argentina this spring to study abroad and observe the healthcare system from an international lens en route to pursuing her own career in medicine.

October 2018

Five ILSers on Gold-Medal Winning Research team at the iGEM Jamboree

Each year, the world produces over 300 million pounds of plastics; yet, according to a 2018 United Nations report, more than one-third of all plastic is used in materials that are thrown away after a single use, and less than 10 percent is ever recycled. The explosion in worldwide plastic production – a reality that is little more than a half-century old – has led to extensive pollution, threatening human health, wildlife, water, and the Earth’s climate.

Recognizing this, an interdisciplinary team of 12 University of Maryland students, whose project is known as PETNET, is employing new tactics in search of a scalable solution for breaking down polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the world’s most commonly used plastic.

The team – which earned a gold medal at this year’s International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition in Boston, Mass. – worked to address critical shortcomings that have long eluded researchers on a quest to rid the world of plastic waste. Even more, the group developed a system using a biosensor that could allow researchers to carry out routine measurements of PET degradation without relying on expensive lab equipment to do so.

“The buildup of plastics is a challenging issue that lacks a simple solution,” said biochemistry and biological sciences double major Jacob Premo, a UMD iGEM team member. “While recycling can help to counteract plastic waste accumulation, it is limited in scope to only certain types of plastic that are of a sufficient crystallinity. Our team decided to attempt to create a solution to this issue by optimizing an enzyme-based breakdown of PET.” You can read more here.

september 2018

Veeraj Shah wins the 2018 ThermoFisher Scientific Antibody Scholarship

A second-year ILS student, Veeraj Shah, has just been awarded the 2018 ThermoFisher Scientific Antibody Scholarship.  Veeraj has broad interests in biomedical research ranging from radiation oncology to public health.  The Antibody Scholarship was awarded in recognition of the significance of his research efforts at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. ThermoFisher Scientific sponsors this annual scholarship competition in order to support future generation of science scholars often doing immunology research. The scholarship winners are selected on the basis on the quality of their research, personal statements, and recommendation letters.  ThermoFisher Scientific distributes $40,000 among the 6 award winners each year from both undergraduate and graduate programs.

ILSer wins NOAA Hollings scholarship

Congratulations to Donald De Alwis, one of the 2018 NOAA Hollings Scholars. The Hollings Scholarship Program provides successful undergraduate applicants with awards that include academic assistance (up to $9,500 per year) for two years of full-time study and a 10-week, full-time paid ($700/week) internship at a NOAA facility during the summer.  The internship between the first and second years of the award provides the scholars with hands-on, practical experience in NOAA-related science, research, technology, policy, management, and education activities. Awards also include travel funds to attend a mandatory NOAA Scholarship Program orientation and the annual Science & Education Symposium, scientific conferences where students present their research, and a housing subsidy for scholars who do not reside at home during the summer internship.

Donald is an Environmental Science and Technology major with a concentration in environmental health. He is a member of the Honors College and of the Integrated Life Sciences program, and is a Banneker-Key Scholar. Donald is an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. Stephanie Yarwood's lab, where he works with a Ph.D. student on experiments regarding iron-reducing bacteria in wetland soils. He also serves as an AGNR Student Ambassador, as an EMT with the Hyattsville Fire Department, and as an alternative spring break leader, among numerous activities.

ILSer continues tradition, earning A Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Fellowship

Congratulations to Uzair Ahtesham, who earned the prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Undergraduate Research Fellowships.  HHMI Fellowships are awarded to undergraduate students who are achieving research excellence in the biomedical sciences.  For more information about the HHMI programs at the University of Maryland, see http://hhmi.umd.edu.  Uzair's research explores ethylene, a multifunctional plant hormone that is tightly controlled in the agricultural industry due to its wide ranging effects on crop plants. The recently published genome sequence of Marchantia reveals homologs of the proteins for ethylene signaling, but there are no homologs of the enzyme known in flowering plants to be responsible for producing ethylene from the precursor molecule 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC). Preliminary results indicate that ACC induces responses in Marchantia that are distinct from those caused by ethylene, suggesting that ACC itself could be a signaling molecule. Uzair investigates the roles of ethylene and ACC in Marchantia, to determine if the homologs of the ethylene signaling pathway are functionally conserved, and to shed light on the unknown signaling pathway through which ACC functions. 

May 2018

winston family writing awards

Congratulations to Daniel Zheng (center, in black suit) for his Winston Family Award recognizing his short story, "Butler Library in New York: The New Tower of Babel."  Daniel's Faculty Mentor is Dr. Ingrid Satelmajer in University Honors.  The Winston Family Awards recognize the best in essays, research papers, and honors theses written by University of Maryland Honors Students.  ILSer Justin Buck was also recognized for his writing with a Winston Family Award in 2017.

ILSer wins summer research, travel, and educational enrichment award to study in Spain

The College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) Alumni Network has announced its 2018 Undergraduate Summer Research, Travel and Educational Enrichment Award winners.  Recipients receive awards of $500 or $2,000 to help defray costs related to conducting research or traveling to field courses, conferences or other summer activities that enhance or expand the student’s educational and professional development.

Lydia Mazze, a biological sciences major and a member of the Integrated Life Sciences (ILS) program in the Honors College, plans to study abroad in Salamanca, Spain. Mazze currently researches memory and learning in UMD’s Neural Systems Laboratory with Jonathan Fritz, an affiliate associate research scientist in the Department of Biology and a research scientist in the Institute for Systems Research. In Spain, Mazze will take a neural sound processing course and a Spanish course geared toward medical practitioners.

Congratulations Class of 2018!  Mitchell Rock speaks at Spring Commencement

ILSer Mitchell Rock addressed the joyous crowd at the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences Spring Commencement Ceremony.  Rock is graduating with dual bachelor’s degrees in biological sciences (physiology and neurobiology specialization) and government and politics. Rock is an aspiring surgeon who completed his ILS citation in the Honors College and a government and politics departmental honors thesis analyzing mental health policies for the LGBTQ+ community. 

Rock has conducted research on malignant gliomas, diabetes and circadian rhythms, and cerebral palsy at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Tel Aviv University. He also volunteered in the child life department of Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital and the emergency department of Prince George’s Hospital Center. At UMD, he served as the vice president of recruitment for the Phi Delta Epsilon International Medical Fraternity and as a teaching assistant for mammalian physiology and genetics courses.

While at UMD, Rock also explored his passion for advocacy and service-learning. He wrote opinion columns for The Diamondbackstudent newspaper advocating for vulnerable populations on and off campus. He also served as vice president of Public Health Without Borders and as an intern and experience leader for the Alternative Breaks program. Both of these organizations run service-learning experiences on a range of health and social justice issues. Rock also completed the Global Fellows program with a health policy internship in the Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives.  A native of Baltimore County, Rock will attend medical school at Georgetown University this fall.

April 2018

Asha Kodan awarded the 2017 David M. Goff Scholarship

The Dr. David M. Goff Scholarship is awarded to Asha Kodan, an outstanding sophomore pre-medical student at the University of Maryland. The Goff Scholarship is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Goff, a well-regarded podiatrist serving the Washington, DC area. Asha is taking a challenging course load to complete the major of Biological Sciences and the minor of Religious Studies.

Over the past 5 years, Asha has been serving as a healthcare volunteer in multiple departments including the Geriatrics Unit, Ambulatory Surgery, and Emergency Room at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, MD.  She has conducted undergraduate research in synthetic biology as a member of UMD’s iGEM (international Genetically Engineered Machines) team; their project was to engineer bacteria so that it could deliver an anti-fungal compound to protect banana plants against a virulent fungal pathogen. She is also an undergraduate research assistant at UMD's Child Development Lab, where she works on the Temperament Over Time (TOTS) study to investigate the effects of individual differences in temperament across development.  Besides her passion for healthcare and research, she writes a weekly opinion column about science and other timely topics for the student newspaper The Diamondback.  Asha is ultimately planning to apply to medical school in order to obtain a M.D. degree in a clinical specialty, such as women's health or emergency medicine.

ilser wins goldwater scholarship! UMD students second only to stanford in past five years

Congratulations to ILS junior Lily Sun, who has just been awarded a Goldwater Scholarship!  The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, which encourages students to pursue advanced study and careers in the sciences, engineering and mathematics. Lily is one of four UMD students named as a Goldwater Scholar, and she contributes to a legacy of 18 awards and 2 honorable mentions for 20 nominated students in the past five years.  Stanford University is the only other institution in the nation to match UMD's standards in this timeframe.  Lily is among the 211 Barry Goldwater Scholars selected from 1,280 students nominated nationally this year, and she plans to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. after graduation.

Lily Sun, a junior pursuing double degrees in biological sciences and economics who is also a member of the Integrated Life Sciences program in the Honors College and a Banneker/Key Scholar—is interested in developing novel cancer vaccines.

Sun’s pursued her first research experience in high school when she interned at the National Cancer Institute’s Office of Cancer Complementary and Alternative Medicine. As part of her internship, she screened a library of herbal compounds for potential use in chemotherapy. Next, she interned at the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) researching the effectiveness of certain antibodies for immunotherapy—treatments that stimulate a patient's immune system—to treat head and neck cancers.

After joining another NIDCD lab in December 2016, Sun improved the effectiveness of a cancer immunotherapy in vitro by first treating cancer cells with chemotherapy drugs. Because chemotherapy usually kills immune cells along with cancer cells, making immunotherapy treatments less effective, this finding surprised Sun and her colleagues.

As a result of this work, Sun co-authored two papers published in the journal OncoImmunology and submitted two more papers for publication, including a first-author paper. Sun and her collaborators are currently investigating the mechanism behind this unexpected effect. 

“Lily possesses a remarkable ability to grasp complex biologic processes and critically think through experimental designs to answer hypothesis-based questions that guide a scientific story,” said her mentor Clint Allen, head of the NIDCD’s Translational Tumor Immunology Program and an assistant professor in the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

Sun founded Terps for New Horizons, a club dedicated to helping immigrants and refugees. For more information about all of the winners, please click here.

March 2018

ILSer awarded prestigious HHMI Fellowship for summer 2018

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has recently announced that the ILS student Maïgane Diop has been awarded the prestigious HHMI Exceptional Research Opportunities Program (EXROP) Fellowship for Summer 2018.  HHMI-EXROP fellows receive full financial support for carrying out exciting research projects in the laboratories of HHMI Investigators who are outstanding scientists recognized for pushing the boundaries of our knowledge in the biomedical sciences.  Maïgane has been selected to work with Dr. Tim Stearns who is the Frank Lee and Carol Hall Professor in the Department of Biology at Stanford University and in the Department of Genetics at the Stanford University School of Medicine.  Dr. Stearns's research focuses on cell biology, particularly the microtubule cytoskeleton, which is a dynamic network of filaments, associated motors, and organizing factors found in all eukaryotic cells.  

Maïgane is pursuing her major in Biological Sciences specializing in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics and her minor in Philosophy on the UMD campus. She is also actively involved in several meaningful co-curricular experiences at UMD.  For example, she is especially interested in women’s health, which is reflected by her service as the Co-Founder and Co-President of Gove’s Quest, a UMD student organization focusing on providing volunteer service to women’s health organizations in the local community.  She served as the experience leader for Alternative Spring 2018 Break program that provided an immersive service-learning project for UMD students to support an impoverished community in Haiti. She is ultimately planning to apply to medical school in order to pursue a M.D. in Women’s and Children’s Health and a Ph.D. in Reproductive Endocrinology.  

ILS alternative break trip, terps helping turtles, wraps up another great year in topsail island, NC

Terps Helping Turtles Alternative Spring Break just returned from the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue & Rehabilitation Center in Topsail, NC!  Check out the blog of the students' journey here.

ILSers on grand prize-winning team for 2018 pitch dingman competition for innovative fall detection device

Congratulations to Symbiont Health, a team comprised of ILSers Maria Chen and Nick Hricz with Honors EIP students Erich Meissner, Kyle Liu, and Daniel Rosenberry for winning the $15,000 grand prize at the 2018 Pitch Dingman Competition! Chaired by businessman and philanthropist Robert G. Hisaoka, the competition awarded nearly $30,000 in seed funding to top student entrepreneurs in a “Shark Tank”-style pitch session, hosted by the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship at the Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Nearly 600 students, faculty, alumni and VIPs gathered to watch the student entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to the expert panel of judges in a ballroom at the university’s Stamp Student Union. The judges assessed each startup’s current level of success, plan for using the funds and their overall growth potential. The winners were:

• $15,000 Grand Prize: Symbiont Health (founders Erich Meissner ’18, Maria Chen ’19 and Kyle Liu ’20), maker of automated fall detection devices for seniors

• $7,500 Second Prize: BEEQBOX (founder Brianna Queen ’19), a vegan and cruelty-free cosmetics company featuring feminist branding

• $3,500 Third Prize: Dark Sonar Technologies (founder George Lee ’18), a cybersecurity company that prevents synthetic identity fraud on websites and mobile apps

• $1,000 Audience Choice (decided by text voting): Flee (founder Didac Hormiga ’19), a mobile app that helps students discover events and entertainment around campus

February 2018

ILSer wins prestigious churchill scholarship, first from UMD since 1963

Congratulations to ILS senior Yousuf Khan, who was just awarded the prestigious Churchill Scholarship, which offers full funding to pursue a 1-year Master's degree at the University of Cambridge.  Nationally, only 15 students in the sciences, engineering or mathematics receive Churchill Scholarships annually. Only two UMD students previously received the award since its inception in 1963, and this is the first time two were selected in the same year. The other UMD Churchill recipient this year is Chris Bambic from the University Honors program.  

Yousuf will pursue a Master of Philosophy degree in pathology. He plans to study programmed ribosomal frameshifting in eukaryotic organisms. This mechanism allows organisms to pack a larger amount of genetic information into a relatively short sequence of RNA.

“Yousuf is truly exceptional and ranks in the top 1 percent among the students I have taught and mentored at the University of Maryland,” said Zhongchi Liu, a professor in the UMD Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics who invited Khan to work in her plant genetics lab while he was still in high school. 

After enrolling at UMD, Khan spent three years in the laboratory of Jonathan Dinman, chair of the UMD Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics, studying ribosomal frameshifting and how non-coding RNA controls gene expression. Khan cloned sequences suspected of being able to reprogram the genetic code and determined whether the sequences had the frameshifting function. As a result, he validated several new frameshifting sequences and co-authored five peer-reviewed journal articles and spoke about his findings at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting in 2017.  “By targeting and manipulating these very basic, but important, molecular mechanisms, this research could lead to the development of therapeutics to combat diseases and to mitigate the effects of aging,” Khan said.

To broaden his research experiences this year, Khan joined the laboratory of UMD Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics Professor Norma Andrews to study Leishmania parasites, which are found in parts of the tropics, subtropics and southern Europe. They can cause serious disease and even death. Khan is examining the role of iron and reactive oxygen species in regulating differentiation of these parasites. He co-authored a peer-reviewed journal article detailing how to infect macrophages with these parasites and is preparing to submit a first-author publication.

Congratulations Yousuf!

October 2017

President Loh's Fall Video Message:  Discover New Knowledge

Check out ILSer Megha Guggari at the 1:48 minute mark of President Loh's video message!  She and and her team are highlighted for their innovative, portable machine that analyzes brain waves in the fight against Alzheimer's disease.  Awesome work Megha!

David Goff Scholarship Announcement

ILS is thrilled to announce that the Honors College will be offering the David Goff Scholarship to one second-year ILS student in the Fall 2017 semester.  Students interested in pursuing the $1,000 scholarship must have a GPA of 3.75 or higher, be strongly committed to pursing a career in medicine (e.g., clinical medicine, medical research, public health, or another allied health field), and complete an application that includes an essay, curriculum vitae, and letter of recommendation.  

For any questions and complete application, ILS students must contact Dr. Todd Cooke, Director of the ILS Program in the Honors College. 

September 2017

terp magazine profiles

TERP Magazine has profiled several members of the talented incoming class in the online issue available here.  Two of these new Terps profiled by Lauren Brown are ILSers:  Ethan Cheng and Pavan Ravindra.  

Ethan Cheng believes every child should be able to smile. Born with a cleft lip, he founded the Cleft Support Club at his Montgomery County high school to raise awareness and money for children in developing countries who need the surgery to repair the birth defect, which can cause speech, dental and eating problems.  A biological sciences major in the Honors College Integrated Life Sciences program, Cheng had his first surgery at age 3 months, and says it’s important that all children with cleft lips or palates have that opportunity: “It’s a simple surgery, but it can really change people’s lives.”

In the time it takes most of us to put on our pants, Pavan Ravindra can solve a Rubik’s Cube. One-handed.  Ravindra, who plans to double major in biological sciences and computer science while participating in the Honors College ILS program, last year held the national title in this niche competition. He unscrambled the device five times at an average 11 seconds, with a top speed of 9.26 seconds.  He insists it’s more efficient to use just his left hand, saying his movements are so fast that keeping the right hand out of the way can help shave up to a second off his “solve time.”

Ravinindra solved his first Rubik’s Cube in fourth grade, then put it aside for five years until he met a classmate who could do it in 15 seconds. That teen showed him a few tricks, and by the end of the school year, Ravindra could beat him.  But the secret to his speed and dexterity is no trick it all: “It just means three hours a day of practice.”

ILS Service Award Recipients

Congratulations to our two recipients of the 2017 ILS Service Award, Paula Kleyman and Kelsey Anderson!  The ILS Service Award recognizes the considerable contributions that ILSers make to their communities with their time, talent, and innovation during their tenure at Maryland.  There were such tremendous nominations this year that for the first time ever we bestowed two awards.

Paula is a junior whose nominator described her as "someone who makes the ILS community and university at large a better place because of her honesty, kindness, and hard work."  Generating excitement and interest in science for the next generation of scientists is one of Paula's passions.  An active member of the American Chemical Society, and she volunteers to tutor students at various events.  With the Innoworks camp on campus last summer, Paula worked with students who previously lacked exposure to science.  She is a Teaching Assistant for the ILS genetics course because she loves the material and helping others master the coursework.  For the last two summers, Paula has often been the lone BIOE major at every Orientation session, and competently educated students on what the major entails and the hazards/joys of Calc III!  She is a generous Peer Mentor, and has worked tirelessly with the iGEM team.

Kelsey is also a junior who is a returning Section Leader for the introductory course HLSC100 for first-year ILS students, which includes being an encouraging role model as well as organized and prepared instructor.  She is the founder of Students for the Advancement of Women in Science (SAWS), which generates interactive STEM education to inspire girls' confidence in science for local underserved middle school students.  SAWS earned an Honorable Mention in the spring 2017 campus-wide Do Good Challenge of nearly 100 organizations, and won the Mini Do Good Challenge.  Kelsey is a Peer Mentor for ILS and an Honors Ambassador for the Honors College.  Kelsey not only contributes service herself, but notices and appreciates the work of others as well.  She nominated four of her peers for recognition with this award, by far the most from any student. 

August 2017

ilser wins first place for USUHS poster symposium

Rising Junior Kelsey Anderson won first place in the Poster Symposium for the Uniformed Services University Health Services (USUHS).  Her winning poster, The Immunoproteasome Alters the Innate Response is Microglia, is seen here. Congratulations Kelsey!

June 2017

ILS welcomes new associate director, dr. sabrina kramer

Welcome to our new Associate Director of ILS, Dr. Sabrina Kramer!  Dr. Kramer is joining us from the Teaching and Learning Transformation Center at the University of Maryland, where she has overseen several successful faculty development programs, including those focusing on course redesign and curriculum development.  She has over 10 years of teaching experience at the University and brings with her a diverse research background ranging from pathogen-host interactions and viruses as templates for nanowires to the support of faculty development and teacher training in higher education.  

Sabrina received her B.S. in Biology from the College of William and Mary in 2001 and her Ph.D in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics from UMD in 2008.  She was a post-doctoral teaching and research fellow at the Center for Biosystems Research in the UMD Biotechnology Institute from 2008-2010.  Since then, she has served as an Assistant Director of the UMD Teaching and Learning Transformation Center specializing in faculty and student development in all disciplines with particular emphasis on STEM disciplines.  Sabrina brings fantastic enthusiasm, knowledge, and experience to the ILS Associate Director position, and we are thrilled to welcome her to our team and excited for the talent she is bringing!

ILs bids adieu to first associate director, dr. Boots quimby

THANK YOU so much Dr. Boots Quimby for all her dedicated service to the ILS community over the past seven years.  Many of the signature teaching and research programs of ILS are directly due to her incredible creativity, passion, and talents, including the Alternative Break trip Terps Helping Turtles in Topsail Island, NC and the winter student abroad course in the United Kingdom exploring the British Masters of Science.   We owe her a great debt of gratitude for all her efforts on behalf of the ILS community.  She will be using her talents in her new position as the Associate Director of Program Development and Evaluation in the Office of Undergraduate Research at UNC Chapel Hill.  We wish her the very best in her future endeavors at UNC.  Bon voyage, Boots!

The Dragon Resupply mission has launched!  Aaron Solomon, Gary Saroosh, and Yaniv Kazansky, whose project focusing on astronauts' health blasted off to the International Space Station!  These self described "space geeks" and pre-med students aim to expand our understanding of how bacteria behave in microgravity—and ultimately how to safeguard space travelers—with their biology experiment.  Check out the project by these three ILSers here! 

April 2017

ILSers impressive showing at campus-wide Do Good Challenge: 2nd prize and honorable mention

The University of Maryland is the nation's first Do Good Campus, and the 2017 Do Good Challenge Finals were held on April 26th. The Do Good Challenge is a year-long effort that engages over a thousand students across campus and partners with numerous colleges, schools, and programs. Capped by an eight-week competition created by UMD students to encourage their peers to Do Good, the challenge awards over $20,000 of total prize money and gives students a chance to get their organization’s name in front of a panel of high-profile judges and hundreds of supporters and professionals at the Finals. It is an opportunity students can’t miss.

 Recognition included several successful ILS teams!  Congratulations to Symbiont Health, a team comprised of ILSers Maria Chen and Nick Hricz with Honors EIP students Erich Meissner, Kyle Liu, and Daniel Rosenberry (not pictured).  Their fall detection device, a watch-sized prototype that can communicate falls to responders to assist patients and prevent further injury and trauma was awarded 2nd Prize and $2,500 out of more than 90 competing teams, and also earned the Audience Choice Award of $1,500.  They also won 1st Prize at the Maryland Day Fishbowl Pitching Contest for another $3,000 and and additional $5,000 for the acceptance of their idea to Terp Start Up for summer 2017.  They have formed a partnership with Medstar Institute of Innovation, a seven-hospital system, to work with their patients for product testing.  Amazing work!

Congratulations to the Students for the Advancement of Women in Science (SAWS), recognized for Honorable Mention.  This organization was founded by ILSer Kelsey Anderson, advised by ILS Assistant Director Zabrina Anzyl, and comprised of primarily ILS students including Natalia Ochman, Justin Buck, Bebe Badiei, Elizabeth Arentz,  Allison Karwoski, and Adam Wright.  SAWS members share a common goal of eliminating gendered stigmas from the STEM education path and building an inclusive learning environment in which differences are seen as strengths, and not obstacles to learning. Through direct tutoring intervention at the middle school level, SAWS strives to instill confidence into the hearts and lives of students, molding them into avid lifetime learners.

Congratulations to the Vintage Voices team!  Vintage Voices, which includes ILSers Paula Kleyman, Ben Akman, and Rachel Jacob (not pictured) aims to improve the mental health and the quality of life for the elderly living in long-term care facilities through the power of music.  This team won First Place in the Projects Category!  ILSers contributed a tremendous amount of talent and passion to these projects, and it was wonderful to see them recognized.  ILS Director Dr. Todd Cook and Honors College Executive Director Dr. Sue Dwyer attended the finals and were incredibly impressed by the efforts of all the teams and how much good Terps are doing for their campus and communities.

University Medal nominees 2017

The University Medal is the highest award that the University of Maryland offers to its most noteworthy graduating senior at Campus Commencement.  The medal is awarded for overall academic excellence, plus outstanding research and scholarly accomplishments, dedicated service to on-campus and off-campus organizations, significant leadership, and personal values.  ILS is proud to announce that seniors Aaron Solomon and Gabrielle Welsh are two of the nominees for the 2017 University Medal, congratulations to both of them!

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Undergraduate Research Fellowships

ILS is proud to announce that 5 ILS students have won very prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Undergraduate Research Fellowships.  HHMI Fellowships are awarded to undergraduate students who are achieving research excellence in the biomedical sciences.  For more information about the HHMI programs at the University of Maryland, see http://hhmi.umd.edu.

Emma De Ravin is an ILS junior who is majoring in Biological Sciences (specializing in Physiology and Neurobiology). Her research topic is: "Immune and inflammatory role of B lymphocytes in type 2 diabetes". Her mentor is Dr. Wenxia Song in the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics.

Yousuf Khan is an ILS junior who is majoring in Biological Sciences (specializing in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics).  His research topic is:  "Changes in mRNA secondary structure potentiates the transforming activity of the Jak2-V617F mutation".  His mentor is Dr. Jonathan Dinman in the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics.

Robert Liu is an ILS junior who is majoring in Biochemistry and minoring in Computer Science. His research topic is:  "Computational modeling of the intrinsic sorting of actin crosslinking proteins."  His mentor is Dr. Garegin Papoian in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Kristen Ramsey is an ILS sophomore who is majoring in Biological Sciences (specializing in General Biology).  Her research topic is: "Towards understanding the role of the large-conductance mechanosensitive channel MscL in osmoregulation of Vibrio cholerae".  Her mentor is Dr. Sergei Sukharev in the Department of Biology.

Anna Seminara is an ILS sophomore who is majoring in Biological Sciences (specializing in Microbiology). Her research topic is: "Identification of receptors mediating adenosine 3', 5'-bisphosphate signaling." Her mentor is Dr. Vincent Lee in the Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics.

ilser named as undergraduate researcher of the year

Congratulations Emily DeBoy!  The ILS Senior has been awarded the Undergraduate Researcher of the Year Award from the Office of Undergraduate Studies.    Emily is broadly interested in the fundamental biology of nuclear architecture and genomic organization and how major defects in these processes can lead to cancer and aging.  She has done exceptional research in the lab of Dr. Tom Misteli, who is an NIH Distinguished Investigator and the Director of the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute. Her thesis is entitled: “Identification and characterization of novel RNA isoforms of lamin A/C”.  Emily will be receiving dual degrees with high honors in Biological Sciences and in Mathematics at the Spring 2017 Commencement.  Next year, Emily will matriculate at the MD-PhD program at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. 

ilser wins kennedy center american collegiate theatre festival’s undergraduate scholar award

ilser awarded HHMI undergraduate fellowship, publishes third paper in molecular cell

Congratulations to Yousuf Khan, who was recently awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) undergraduate fellowship, and also published a third paper in Molecular Cell with a fourth paper in review at Nature Leukemia.   Additionally, Yousuf was invited to speak at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting early this month in front a significant international audience.  Great work Yousuf!

March 2017

trio of ilsers win national spacex contest, project headed for international space station

Congratulations to Aaron Solomon, Gary Saroosh, and Yaniv Kazansky, whose project focusing on astronauts' health will be blasted off to the International Space Station this month!  These self described "space geeks" and pre-med students aim to expand our understanding of how bacteria behave in microgravity—and ultimately how to safeguard space travelers—with their biology experiment.  For more, check out the full story here. 

Five years ago, ILS Associate Director Boots Quimby initiated a partnership between the University of Maryland ILS students and the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center on Topsail Island, NC.  For Spring 2017, nine students were lead by Experience Leaders Nicole Moy and Katie Aceto, and Staff Advisor ILS Assistant Director Zabrina Anzyl for an eight-day Alternative Spring Break adventure.  In multiple pre-trip meetings, participants studied sea turtle species, engaged in team builders, and prepared to assist the wonderful regular hospital volunteers.  The entire group scooped and cleaned tanks, prepared fish and squid for breakfast, fed turtles by hand, watched a tagging for three sea turtles ready for release, and observed a necropsy at the beautiful University of North Carolina, Wilmington campus.  They also went to the Cape Fear Raptor Center and the Fort Fisher Aquarium to gain a comprehensive view of the local ecosystems and emphasize the connections in environmental conservation and sustainability.  You can learn about the group's experience by watching their digital story below.  

Congratulations to Steve Chen, who received the NCI Center for Global Health Cancer Research Training Award Fellowship!  Steve will be working with NCI staff to develop and implement projects that support strengthening of cancer research and cancer control globally.  You can learn more about this opportunity here.

February 2017

Congratulations to senior Steve Chen, who participated in the TEDxUMD Think Big Conference at the Hoff Theater on February 18th.  Steve is a volunteer with the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, an international nonprofit aimed at reducing global suffering and empowering individuals and communities. His speech, It’s Time to Start Eating Ethically, was about the benefits of vegetarianism and why he continues with this diet.

January 2017

ILS piloted our first-ever study abroad experience for 10 days with 15 students representing all cohorts in January 2017.  Led by Associate Director Dr. Boots Quimby and Assistant Director Zabrina Anzyl, The British Masters of Science examined 500 years of discovery by British scientists, from Sir Isaac Newton to Dr. Stephen Hawking.  Britain’s great scientists and inventors have been at the forefront of some of history’s greatest advances and have shaped science as we know it today.  The course explored where these scientific masters  lived, studied, and worked in London, Cambridge, and Oxford.  Students experienced the historic foundations of science and were able to connect the scientific discoveries of history to contemporary classrooms.  Highlights included Jenner House, the Hunterian Museum, Stonehenge, the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and Bletchley Park.  The course is planned to be repeated in 2019!

November 2016

Congratulations to senior Aaron Solomon, who has been named a 2017 Marshall Scholar!  The Marshall Scholarship, which allows American students to pursue graduate study at any university in the United Kingdom, is considered one of the most prestigious academic awards available to college graduates.  Solomon—who is majoring in biological sciences, with a specialization in cell biology and genetics, and minoring in computer science—plans to use the scholarship toward a Master of Science degree in genomic medicine at Imperial College London followed by a Master of Philosophy degree in bioscience enterprise at the University of Cambridge. His long-term plans include earning his Ph.D. and pursuing a career in computational genomics.

“This is the opportunity of a lifetime,” said Solomon.  “The Marshall Scholarship will enable me to study cutting-edge biomedical science on a global scale and collaborate internationally to enhance human health. Throughout my years in the United Kingdom, I hope to prepare myself to tackle future challenges at the nexus of science and society.” UMD’s fifth Marshall Scholar, Solomon has extensive community service and research experience, including projects focused on drastically reducing greenhouse gas pollutants in agricultural fertilizers using nanoscience techniques, genetically engineering fungi to attack mosquitos carrying malaria and developing bioinformatic tools to better understand breast cancer patient data. 

You can read more about Aaron's Marshall plans here.

October 2016

Students from the UMD iGEM team (International Genetically Engineered Machine competition) attended the International Jamboree in Boston with more than 250 other teams from around the world. This annual competition features presentations in the field of synthetic biology, a rapidly growing field that aims to apply engineering principles to biological systems in order to address real-world problems.

UMaryland iGEM was founded three years ago, as a collaboration between ILS and the Bioengineering department. Under the direction of three faculty mentors, the team not only researches a synthetic biology project, but raises money to fund experiments and the trip to Boston, collaborates with iGEM teams from other universities, and participates in various human outreach activities to take the project into the real world and to inform the public about genetic engineering.

The UMD iGEM team included nine ILSers, and was awarded a silver medal and nominated for the Best Hardware Project for two presentations:  the "Biosequestration of Methane" to combat global climate change, and a DIY -80 degree freezer costing around $300.  The 2017 team is currently hard at work on planning for the project it will present at this year's competition. To learn more about the methane project, visit 2016.igem.org/Team:UMaryland, and for more information email umarylandigem@gmail.com

Congratulations to ILS faculty member, Dr. Jonathan Simon, whose recent research was widely circulated by British journalists in the United Kingdom.  Media outlets that published pieces on his work included The Times and BBC Radio, which has a global  audience of several million listeners.  Dr. Simon's research studies the difficulties a listener encounters when surrounded by a cacophony of competing voices.  

August 2016

ILS is thrilled to recognize the placement of recent graduate Avan Antia with the Clinton Fellowship America India Foundation (AIF).  She will be working with an NGO in India for 10 months, beginning in September.  The Clinton Fellowship for Service in India pairs young professionals with leading NGOs and social enterprises to accelerate impact and create effective projects that are replicable, scalable, and sustainable.  Together, Fellows and development sector leaders form dynamic partnerships to exchange knowledge and skills while sharing their passion to present new ways of looking at the world - ultimately transforming both the individual and the organization.  Avan will be working at the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust and Center for Herpatology.  Congrats Avan!

May 2016

Congratulations to Iowis Zhu for being selected as the 2016 University of Maryland University Medal recipient!  This is the highest award that the University of Maryland offers to its most noteworthy graduating senior at Campus Commencement.  The medal recognizes overall academic excellence, plus outstanding research and scholarly accomplishments, dedicated service to on-campus and off-campus organizations, significant leadership, and personal values.  Iowis was chosen for his research excellence, which includes his leadership of a UMD student team that was awarded a gold medal at International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Grand Jamboree for Synthetic Biology.  After graduation, Iowis will be entering the Stanford School of Medicine to pursue his M.D. degree.  Congratulations Iowis!

Congrats to Senior Shane Falcinelli for being awarded the Dorfman Prize for Undergraduate Research for 2016!  Shane was recognized for his thesis research working with Dr. Volker Briken for the past four years.   His research focused on studying drug delivery by acyclic cucurbit[n]uril-type molecular containers.  Shane's work was also recognized with the Winston Family Honors Best Student Paper Award, please see below.  Tremendous job Shane!

We are excited to recognize two ILSers, senior Shane Falcinelli and first-year Justin Buck, for their recent Winston Family Honors Best Student Paper Awards.  Shane was one of three recipients for Best Honors Thesis for his work titled, Toxicology and Drug Delivery Applications of Acyclic Curcurbit[n]uril-Type Molecular Genetics under the guidance of faculty mentor Dr. Volker Briken.  Justin was one of two recipients for Best Honors Essay Thinking Outside the Cell:  Rehabilitating American's Youth.  Justin's essay was nominated by his faculty mentor Dr. Peter E. Leone in the course HONOR248H From Willowbrook to Attica:  Disability in the Context of Disability Education.  You can read more about Shane, Justin, and the others recognized by the Winston Family here.  Congratulations to our winners!

Congratulations to ILS Director Dr. Todd Cooke for being recognized with the Donna B. Hamilton Teaching Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education.  This is a student-nominated award that asks for faculty members who have made a difference in how their students view the world, influenced their career direction, improved their understanding of challenging material, or been a mentor or role model.  The Office of Undergraduate Studies deliberates on all of the nominees and recognizes one faculty member in Undergraduate Studies.  

This means that ILS staff members Dr. Cooke, Dr. Quimby, and Graduate Assistant Hannah Jardine are all being recognized for their exceptional work this year.  Congratulations to Dr. Cooke and the rest of the ILS team!

April 2016

Congratulations to ILS Graduate Assistant Hannah Jardine, who has just been given the Graduate Student Staff Recognition Award from the Department of Undergraduate Studies.  As an embedded researcher, Hannah has conducted a longitudinal study of all aspects of the ILS program from Welcome Weekend to Citation Ceremony.  In the last two years, she created permeability among multiple facets of the program including courses, faculty and staff, living environment, and student expectations.  Additionally, Hannah contributed significantly in extenuating circumstances when she increased her time commitment and responsibilities to bridge the gap between the outgoing and incoming Assistant Directors.  She coordinated numerous aspects of HLSC100 including curriculum review, Section Leader preparation, and service partner logistics.  Hannah presented at three professional conferences this spring, proactively pursuing opportunities to contribute to her field and maximize her research.  After graduating in May with her Master's in Curriculum and Instruction, Hannah will begin her doctoral program at the University of Maryland in Teaching Learning Policy and Leadership with a concentration in Math and Science Education.  Thank you Hannah!

Dr. B. Booth "Boots" Quimby, the ILS Associate Director, has just received the Creative Educator Award for 2016 from the Board of Visitors of the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences.  Dr. Quimby was recognized in part for her outstanding and innovative teaching contributions, including a scholarship-in-practice class and a flipped cell biology class.  

She was also recognized for her creation of an Alternative Spring Break experience called Terps Helping Turtles at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Hospital on Topsail Island, North Carolina.  Terps Helping Turtles just completed its fourth year, and plans to partner with the hospital for many years to come. Additionally, Dr. Quimby supervised award-winning undergraduate student teams in the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Grand Jamboree in Synthetic Biology.  Among her other awards, Dr. Quimby was named Outstanding Honors Faculty in Fall 2015 by the University of Maryland Honors College.  Congratulations Dr. Quimby!

The University Medal is the highest award that the University of Maryland offers to its most noteworthy graduating senior at Campus Commencement.  The medal is awarded for overall academic excellence, plus outstanding research and scholarly accomplishments, dedicated service to on-campus and off-campus organizations, significant leadership, and personal values.  

ILS is proud to announce that two ILS seniors, Iowis Zhu and Adip Bhargav, are among the five graduating seniors named this year as finalists for this award.  Among his notable accomplishments, Iowis is being recognized for his research excellence, which includes his leadership of a UMD student team that was awarded a gold medal at International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Grand Jamboree for Synthetic Biology.  After graduation, Iowis will be entering the Stanford School of Medicine to pursue his M.D. degree.  Among his notable accomplishments, Adip is being recognized for his dedicated community service, which includes his leadership of the Advocates for Improving Medicine (AIM) and provides support services to local healthcare agencies.  After graduation, Adip will be entering Mayo Clinic Medical School to pursue his M.D. degree.  Congratulations to both these outstanding graduates!

We are so excited to congratulate sophomore Jessica MacGregor as one of this year's Ernest F. Hollings Scholarship recipients!  Awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Education, the Hollings Scholarship Program provides a financial award of up to $9,500 annually for two years beginning in September 2016.  The Hollings Award also includes a full-time, 10-week, paid summer research internship at a NOAA facility the summer following junior year.   This internship provides the Scholars with practical, hands-on training in NOAA-related research, science, technology, education activities, and management.  

Jessica is an Environmental Science and Policy major, concentrating in Biodiversity and Conservation Biology.  She also minors in Spanish Language and Culture.  She completed a summer internship working as a field technician for the US Geological Survey, and currently works in Dr. Bill Fagan's Spatial Ecology Lab on campus.  Jessica is one of four University of Maryland students to be awarded this prestigious honor, which ties Maryland for third in the nation with the most recipients.  Congratulations Jessica!

Congratulations to sophomore Yousuf Khan for being recognized as a 2016 Goldwater Scholar!  For the second consecutive year, four University of Maryland students have been awarded scholarships by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, which encourages students to pursue advanced study and careers in the sciences, engineering and mathematics. UMD is one of only five institutions with their four nominees all named scholars. The other schools are Cornell University, Stanford University, the University of North Texas and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  This is the first repeat of all four nominees selected as scholars in Maryland's history.

Khan was among the 252 Barry Goldwater Scholars selected from 1,150 students nominated nationally this year. A biological sciences major specializing in cell biology and genetics, who is also a Banneker/Key Scholar, is interested in understanding how non-coding RNAs control gene expression.  Since May 2014, he has been conducting research in the laboratory of Jonathan Dinman, chair of the UMD Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics. In the lab, Khan’s first task involved cloning sequences suspected of being able to reprogram the genetic code.  You can read the full story and learn about UMD's other Goldwater recipients here.

March 2016

Congratulations to Amira Collison, a senior majoring in neurobiology and physiology and minoring in Spanish, who has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Spain for the 2016-17 academic year!  In addition to being a member of the ILS Honors College program, Ms. Collison has served as the chief student coordinator for a high school tutoring program, Foundations in Science and Health, as well as site leader for SHARE, a student-run organization that collects and donates medical supplies to developing countries.  Since 2012, Ms. Collison has been a full Banneker Key Scholar and is a member of Phi Kappa Phi.  While teaching English in Spain, Ms. Collison plans to volunteer at a local health clinic, building on her volunteer work at Silver Spring Community Clinic.  After completing her Fulbright year in Spain, Ms. Collison plans to attend medical school.  As a physician, she hopes to improve the quality and access of health care for minorities in underserved areas.

Congratulations to ILS senior, Avan Antia, who won the award for Best Undergraduate Poster at the Rustbelt RNA Conference!  Avan's findings uncover new targets for therapies directed at controlling stress at the cellular level. Specifically, she verified the presence of signals, located in the messenger RNAs of genes that are turned on in response to cellular stress, which recode the cellular protein synthetic machinery to downregulate the expression of these genes.

October 2015

September 2015

Congratulations to ILS faculty fellow, Dr. Raymond St. Leger, on his receiving the Kirwin Faculty Research and Scholarship Award.  This annual prize recognizes a faculty member for a highly significant work of research, scholarship, or artistic creativity.  The prize can be awarded for a publication, an invention, a performance, or any other activity within the faculty member's academic discipline.

May 2015

Congratulations to ILS Student Avan Antia, who received a Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State. She is spending the summer in India learning Hindi. Avan will be a senior this fall majoring in biological sciences and minoring in Spanish. Read the Q&A with Avan on the CMNS website.

ILS graduates its first class.  On May 22, 2015, after four years in the ILS program, the inaugural cohort of ILS students graduated from the University of Maryland. Congratulations to all of the young men and women who were willing to take a risk and participate in, as well as, shape the Integrated Life Sciences Honors College program.  Your hearts and souls have left an indelible imprint on the program that will serve the ILS program for many many years to come and we thank you! 

April 2015

ILS  juniors Shane Falcinelli and Iowis Zhu are 2 out of 4 UMD students selected as Barry Goldwater Scholars for the upcoming year. Shane is a biology major interested in pathogen research and Iowis is a double major in biochemistry and biological sciences and is interested in developing new drug delivery methods that improve accuracy and precision. The Goldwater Scholarship program was created in 1986 to identify students of outstanding ability and promise in science, engineering and mathematics, and to encourage their pursuit of advanced study and research careers. Goldwater scholars receive one- or two-year scholarships that cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to $7,500 per year. These scholarships are a stepping-stone to future support for their research careers.  You can read the full story here

ILS senior Evguenia “Eva” Morgun has been awarded a 2015-16 German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Study Scholarship to conduct research in Germany.  Eva will work with Stefan Kochanek at the University of Ulm’s Department of Gene Therapy to develop a gene therapy approach for the treatment of Nienmann-Pick disease type C, a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder. Kochanek's laboratory specializes in gene therapy vector research. Read more here.

March 2015

 ILS students Shannon Kirby (General Biology) and Aaron Solomon (Cellular Biology & Genetics, minor in Computing Science) were among 4 UMD students selected to receive the Cory Undergraduate Scholarship award for the Spring 2015 semester. The scholarship was established by friends and family of Ernest N. Cory, who served as head of the Department of Entomology and Zoology from 1914-1956. The Cory Scholarship fund provides up to $1,000 towards tuition remission for two undergraduate students each semester who have creatively contributed to department research and/or extension efforts. The scholarship was established by friends and family of Ernest N. Cory, who served as head of the Department of Entomology and Zoology from 1914-1956.

November 2014

ILS Senior Fang Cao was named a Rhodes Scholar. Fang plans to use the scholarship to pursue a master's degree in medical anthropology at the University of Oxford in England. His long-term plans include a career in medicine and public health policy.  Fang is the first Rhodes Scholar from the University of Maryland in nearly 40 years, congratulations Fang!  Read more about the scholarship and Fang's plans here.

The University of Maryland earned a gold medal in the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition (iGEM) held in Boston from Oct. 30 to Nov. 3, 2014. The competition engages student-led teams from universities across the globe to present novel synthetic biology projects that address real-world problems. Five of the team members are students in ILS. Read the article here .

April 2014

ILS Freshmen Aaron Solomon (BSCI) received an award from the Tribeca Film Festival for creating an engaging video portrait of a young medical researcher who works in a lab funded by the National Institutes of Health for LabTV. Read more and see his award winning short film here. 

Third year ILS student Fang Cao (BSCI) has been awarded a Truman Scholarship, the nation's most selective and prestigious award for underclassmen who demonstrate exceptional leadership potential and a commitment to careers in government, the nonprofit or advocacy sectors, education or elsewhere in the public service. Read the full story here

Third year ILS student Julie Etheridge (BIOE) presented at the 9th Annual ACC Meeting of the Minds 2014 Conference. At this conference outstanding undergraduate researchers and faculty mentors from each Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) institution gather to present their original research. Julie presnted about research she has been conducting in Dr. John Fisher's Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials laboratory at UMD.  

July 2013

Three ILS students, David Jiang, Eva Morgun, Fang Cao, were recently awarded Undergraduate Research Fellowships from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute through the Undergraduate Science Education Program.  These fellowships support independent research projects conducted by the students as they work under the supervision of a faculty mentor.  The fellowship provide students with stipends throughout the summer and school semester to work on their research along with funding for research supplies. 

June 2013

Congratulations to ILS Faculty Fellow Dr. Ray St. Leger, who was awarded the title of Distinguished University Professor for his outstanding scholarship on the genetics of fungi and exemplary achievements as a teacher and mentor. This official title is the highest academic honor that the university confers upon a faculty member and is reserved for a small number of exceptionally distinguished scholars.  

March 2013  

ILS Sophomore Fang Cao (BSCI) has been awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, which encourages students to pursue advanced study and careers in the sciences, engineering and mathematics. Fang is one of three UMD students among the 271 scholars selected from 1,107 students nominated this year. After graduation Fang plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuroscience. 

ILS Sophomore Katie Geck (BSCI) has been accepted to a summer fellowship with the Work Immersion Study Program in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. As part of this immersion program Katie will spend the month of June in an intensive German language program and then spend July and August interning in a biology lab. For the entirety of the internship she is expected to communicate exclusively in German. Katie felt that this was an ideal program for her as she is will have the opportunity to improve her German language skills but also gain valuable research experience.  

November 2012

ILS Faculty Fellow, Raymond St. Leger (Entomology), and nine other faculty members from the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences (CMNS) are among the 702 new Fellows named by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the world's largest general federation of scientists and the publisher of the journal Science. Election as a Fellow of AAAS is an honor bestowed upon members by their peers because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. New Fellows will be honored on Saturday, 16 February, at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2013 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston, Mass. 

Dr. St. Leger was recognized for his distinguished contributions to the fields of mycology, pathology and microbial control, particularly for studies unraveling the mechanisms by which fungi and insects interact. 

September 2012

ILS student Julie Etheridge (BIOE) will be presenting at the Biomedical Engineering Society's Annual Meeting in Atlanta Georgia, October 24-27.  Her abstract is entitled "Evaluating the Cytotoxicity of Poly(propylene fumarate) per ISO Standard 10993-5." 

The study aimed to examine whether Poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF), a synthetic, linear polymer whose degradation products include fumaric acidand propylene glycol would be suitable for use in future in vivo tissue engineering applications per ISO Standard 10993-5. The cytotoxic effects of PPF were examined to see if the degradation products of PPF would hinder the natural assimilation that takes place between a polymer and tissue within the body. 

June 2012

ILS Faculty Fellow Jonathan Simon has been selected to attend the 10th Annual National Academies Keck Futures Initiative (NAKFI) conference, "The Informed Brain in a Digital World" this November.

Participants are selected through a competitive application process. At the conference they present posters on their latest research and participate in interdisciplinary research teams that develop a possible scientific plan to solve an outstanding challenge. The goals of the research teams are to spur new thinking, have people from different disciplines interact, and forge new scientific contacts across disciplines.

These NAKFI conferences are a 15-year effort of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicineto catalyze interdisciplinary inquiry and enhance communication among researchers, funding organizations, universities, and the general public. The objective is to support the climate for conducting interdisciplinary research, and to break down related institutional and systemic barriers.

April 2012