Two UNMC students — Christy Rothermund and Steven Prinster — are among seven University of Nebraska students to be awarded Presidential Graduate Fellowships for academic year 2002-2003. The fellowships were announced recently by University of Nebraska President L. Dennis Smith, Ph.D. The fellowships include stipends of $16,500 at UNMC. Funding for the fellowships is provided through donations to the University of Nebraska Foundation.
Christy Rothermund
Christy Rothermund, a Ph.D. candidate in biochemistry and molecular biology at UNMC. Rothermund’s research concentrates on prostate cancer, specifically the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis (cell death) and the regulation of proteins which correlate with the ability of prostate cancer cells to undergo apoptosis. She has developed a cell line-based model that mimics the progression of prostate cancer in patients.
During the past year, Rothermund has made presentations on her research at the Midwest Student Biomedical Research Forum and the national conference of the American Association for Cancer Research. Her work has been assisted by Astra Zeneca, a pharmaceutical company which manufacturers chemotherapeutic drugs for the treatment of prostate cancer. Rothermund earned her bachelor’s degree in biotechnology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1998.
Steven Prinster
Steven Prinster, a Ph.D. candidate in pharmacology at UNMC. Prinster’s research concentrates on drugs that stimulate physiologic activity in cell receptors, which trigger biochemical responses. The work is important to the potential development of medications to treat cardiovascular disease.
He has presented his findings at the Experimental Biology 2002 national conference in April and has been invited to make a presentation at the International Union of Pharmacology World Congress in July. Prinster recently received the award for best graduate student presentation at the Midwest Science Biomedical Research Forum. He earned his bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Brigham Young University in 1997.