Five undergraduate students from five Nebraska colleges and universities recently received the 2015 Richard Holland Future Scientist Award from the Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures.
The students received cash prizes totaling $2,500 at the annual INBRE (Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence Program) conference on Aug. 4 in Lincoln.
The awards are named in honor of Richard Holland, an Omaha philanthropist and longtime supporter of research.
The students were judged for their oral presentations of the research work they conducted this summer as part of the INBRE program.
The INBRE program is overseen by James Turpen, Ph.D., associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and a professor in the UNMC Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy. Dr. Turpen is the principal investigator of the $16.2 million National Institutes of Health grant that funds the program.
Established in 2001, the INBRE Scholars program was created to expose students to serious biomedical research and build a statewide biomedical research infrastructure between undergraduate and graduate institutions.
The students, referred to as INBRE scholars, enter the program after completing their sophomore year of college upon recommendation of their college professors.
The award winners are:
- First place: Christina Miller, Creighton University
- Second place: Riley Jones, Doane College
- Third place: Kari Heck, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- Honorable mention: Alexis Page, University of Nebraska at Kearney
- Honorable mention: Austin Sanford, University of Nebraska at Omaha