Ten undergraduate students from five Nebraska colleges and universities recently received the 2017 Richard Holland Future Scientist Award from the Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures.
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Pictured from left to right are the five poster presentation winners: Truc Doan, Harim Won, Tiffany Truong, Rebecca Zawistowski and Samantha Stoupa. |
The students received cash prizes totaling $5,000 at the annual INBRE Conference Aug. 8 in Nebraska City. INBRE is the Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence Program.
The awards are named in honor of the late Richard Holland, an Omaha philanthropist and longtime supporter of research. This is the 10th year the Holland Future Scientist Awards have been awarded.
The students were judged for their oral and poster 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 at UNMC. Dr. Turpen is a professor in the UNMC Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy and is the principal investigator of the $16.2 million grant funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health 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. It is a two-year comprehensive training program to prepare the students for graduate school.
The award winners:
Oral Presentation winners:
- First – Alison Guyer, Creighton University;
- Second – Christina Ternent, College of Saint Mary;
- Third – Jessica Hotovy, University of Nebraska-Lincoln;
- Honorable mention – Robyn Scott, Creighton University; and
- Honorable mention – Marlene Djidjoho, College of Saint Mary.
Poster Presentation winners:
- First – Harim Won, University of Nebraska at Omaha;
- Second – Rebecca Zawistowski, Creighton University;
- Third – Samantha Stoupa, Creighton University;
- Honorable mention – Tiffany Truong, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and
- Honorable mention – Truc Doan, Doane University.