Awards

2012

Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) Conference

  • The MU Office of Undergraduate Research funded students and faculty to attend the annual, four-day conference in San Jose, California from November 7-10, 2012. 
  • EXPRESS program undergraduate attendees: Harriett Brown, Julian Deville, Nicole Herrera, Akia Parks, Ellis Tibbs, Rosalyn Reese, Joe Rowles, Jenny Schanzle, Meron Ghidey, Victor Martinez-Cassmeyer, Megan Dowdle, and Mariah McClain

ABRCMS Student Poster Presentations:

  • Megan Dowdle: “Investigating the Mechanism of Gene Regulation by the P%SM RNA Element"
  • Ellis Tibbs: “The Effect Probiotics on Osteoporosis in Post-Menopausal Mice"
  • Mariah McClain: “Inhibition of Sphingosine Kinase Suppresses Influenza Virus Replication”
  • Victor Martinez-Cassmeyer: “Mapping the Effect of Insect Herbivory on Invertase Activity in Arabidopsis thaliana”
  • Akia Parks: “Tissue Engineered Model of Bone Metastasis Using Bone Biocomposites”
  • Harriett Brown: "Squirrel Behavior in Greenspaces on the University of Missouri Campus
  • Nicole Herrera: "Intracellular Calcium Regulates the Migation of Motor Neurons in the Zebrafish Embryo"
  • Joe L. Rowles, III: "The Posttranscriptional Regulation of SOX4 by the RNA-Binding Protein JuR in a Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cell Line"

ABRCMS Award Winners: Nicole Herrera, Victor-Martinez Cassmeyer, and Joe L. Rowles III

For more information on ABRCMS, click here. To learn more about this year's trip, read the November 2012 edition of the OUGR monthly newsletter (The Nexus).


2012 Travel Awards

The MU Office of Undergraduate Research Funded these undergraduate students to travel to and present at conferences:

  • Adam Pettis (Education)
    • Where: Clearwater, FL
    • When: January 4-7, 2012
    • Project Title: "Professional Journals as a Source of Information about teaching NOS: An Examination of Articles Published in Science Scope 1996-2010"
  • Meredith Hayford (Journalism)
    • Conference: American Academy of Advertising
    • Where: Myrtle Beach, SC
    • When: March 15-18, 2012
    • Project Title: "Road Kill: The Impact of Aversive Highway Safety Videos on Message Processing"
  • Michael Matson (Biological Sciences)
    • Where: Portland, OR
    • When: March 15-18, 2012
    • Project Title: "Environmentally produced polyploid cells in primary root tips"
  • Steve Douglas (Nutritional Sciences)
    • Conference: Experimental Biology
    • Where: San Diego, CA
    • When: April 20-25, 2012
    • Project Title: "The effects of low, moderate, or high protein yogurt snacks on appetite control and subsequent eating in healthy women"
  • Kelly Stromsdorfer (Nutritional Sciences)
    • Conference: Experimental Biology
    • Where: San Diego, CA
    • When: April 20-25, 2012
    • Project Title: "Metabolic comparison of weight matched obese male and female mice"
  • Nathan Moore (Interior Design)
  • Curtis Atkisson (Psychology/Anthropology)
    • Conference: Animal Behavior Society meeting
    • Where: Albuquerque, NM
    • When: June 10-14, 2012
    • Project Title: "Exploring the analogy between horizontal gene transfer and cultural information exchange"
  • Nathan Thompson (Biological Sciences)
    • Conference: Animal Behavior Society meeting
    • Where: Albuquerque, NM
    • When: June 10-14, 2012
    • Project Title: "Dynamic adjustment of pulse rate in a katydid(Neoconocephalus ensiger)"
  • Brittani Bungart (Biological Engineering)
  • David deRoode (Biological Sciences)
    • Conference: Research Society of Alcoholism
    • Where: San Francisco, CA
    • When: June 24-27, 2012
    • Project Title: "Acute Effects of Alcohol on Cirdadian Genes in the Rat Brain"

2011

Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) Conference

  • The MU Office of Undergraduate Research funded students and faculty to attend the annual, four-day conference in St. Louis, Missouri from November 9-12, 2011. 
  • EXPRESS program undergraduate attendees: Fiona Odu, Amber Beasley, Nicole Boclair, Cortaiga Gant, Akia Parks, Ellis Tibbs, Alexia Robinson, Lauren Sims, Aver Yakubu, Meron Ghidey, Victor Martinez-Cassmeyer, Megan Dowdle, Reian Roberts, Shawn Moore and Mariah McClain

ABRCMS Student Poster Presentations:

  • Amber Beasley: “Cytokine production in Borrelia burgdorferi-infected macrophages from knockout mice" 
  • Megan Dowdle: “Investing the Ctf19 kinetochore protein complex in saccharomyces cerevisiae"
  • Cortaiga Gant: “Brain phenotypes in a mouse model for muenke craniosynostosis syndrome"
  • Meron Ghidey: “Ebv regulated cellular mrna isoform changes; ebv induced changes in mRNA splicing and alternative transcription”
  • Victor Martinez-Cassmeyer: “Examining sink-source transition by whole-plant invertase mapping”
  • Akia Parks: “Photoacoustic detection of Escherichia coli bacteria cells for screening of septicemia”
For more information on ABRCMS, click here. To learn more about this year's trip, read the November/December 2011 edition of the OUGR monthly newsletter (The Nexus).


2011 Travel Awards

The MU Office of Undergraduate Research Funded these undergraduate students to travel to and present at conferences:

  • Emily Rigden (Biochemistry)
    • Where: Miami Beach, FL
    • When: March 16-19, 2011
    • Project Title: "The Pattern of Peri-Ovulatory Ovarian Thecal Cell TIMP-1 Protein Localization, but not TIMP-1 mRNA levels, in a Rat Model for Endometriosis Differs Significantly from Controls: a Mechanism for Reduced Ovulation in Endometriosis?"
  • Curtis Atkisson (Anthroplogy/Psychology)
  • Luke Pauley (Fisheries & Wildlife)
    • Conference: Ecological Society of America
    • Where: Austin, TX
    • When: August 7-12, 2011
    • Project Title: "Effects of predation and commercial mosquito insecticides on the gray treefrog tadpoles"
  • Amanda Prasuhn (Biological Sciences)
  • Cortaiga Gant (English/Biological Sciences) 

2010

Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Conference

  • The MU Office of Undergraduate Research funded students and faculty to attend the annual, four-day conference in Anaheim, California from September 30 - October 3, 2010.  
  • For more information on SACNAS, click here. To learn more about this year's trip, read our October 2010 edition of the OUGR monthly newsletter (The Nexus).

Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) Conference

  • The MU Office of Undergraduate Research funded students and faculty to attend the annual, four-day conference in Charlotte, North Carolina from November 10-13, 2010. 
  • EXPRESS program undergraduate attendees: Fiona Odu, Rosalyn Reese, Jalisa Diggs, Lauren Sims, Vanessa Evoh, Ellis Tibbs, Angelina Taylor, Jerry Steward, Calvin Lewis and Holly Payne 

ABRCMS Student Poster Presentations:

  • Calvin Lewis: “Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships of Polyhedral Boranes" 
  • Fiona Odu: “Analyzing Protein Interactions between the Parasitic Cyst Nematode 30DO8 Effector Protein & Host Plant Proteins"
  • Holly Payne: “Assessment of Acetylcholine & GABA Cells after Methamphetamine-induced Cell Death in the Mouse Striatum"

Student Reflections on ABRCMS:

  • "When I left for ABRCMS, I had no idea what I wanted to do or how to get there. Now, going back to school I feel like I am on my way to figuring out what career opportunity is right for me."
  • "I was really inspired by Maya Angelou’s talk. Afterwards, I felt like I could do anything and anything was possible. That was great because in the science world, people are really focused on GPA and test scores and sometimes it is nice to hear that it is really a well-rounded person that makes a difference."
  • "ABRCMS is based on research and helped me remember that I enjoy research. I had never really considered getting just a Ph.D. After attending ABRCMS, going to session and stopping by booths, I have strongly reconsidered pursuing an M.D./Ph.D­."
  • "ABRCMS showed me that graduate school is more complex than I realized. There are so many programs and areas of study to choose from!"

For more information on ABRCMS, click here. To learn more about this year's trip, read the November/December 2010 edition of the OUGR monthly newsletter (The Nexus).


2010 Travel Awards

The MU Office of Undergraduate Research Funded these undergraduate students to travel to and present at conferences:

  • Stephen Bock (Computer Science/Information Technology) 
  • Christine O'Brien (Biological Engineering)
    • Where: San Francisco, CA
    • When: January 23-26, 2010
    • Project Title: "Detection & capture of single circulating melanoma cells using photoacoustic flowmetry"
  • John Matera (Biochemistry)
    • Conference: Maize Genetics Conference
    • Where: Riva del Garda, Italy
    • When: March 18-21, 2010
    • Project Title: "Changes in mitochondrial genomes associated with reversions of S-type cytoplasmic male serility in maize"
  • Arooj Mohsin (Biological Sciences)
  • Arwa Mohammad (Biological Sciences)
    • Conference: Annual Society of Neuroscience meeting
    • Where: San Diego, CA
    • When: November 13-17, 2010
    • Project Title: "Green tea epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) inhibits cytokine-insuced nitric oxide and sPLA2-IIA in glial cells"
  • Julia Hartman (English) 
    • Conference: Annual Society of Neuroscience meeting
    • Where: San Diego, CA
    • When: November 13-17, 2010
    • Project Title: "Estradiol modulates GnRH mRNA expression in isolated neurons from young, but not aged, mice"

2006

Nov. 9: Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students

Students awarded for their presentations at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in November 2006 are Aminata Coulibaly in the Biochemical Sciences Division and Louis Jamtgaard in the Neuroscience Division. Each won $250 awards for their presentations. Only 120 of the 1,120 students presenting at the conference were recognized.

Nov. 11: MU Health Sciences Research Day

MU Health Sciences Research Day winners included:

  • First place: Paul Nielson, Conley Scholar;
  • Second place: Adam Prasaniphanich, undergraduate research ambassador;
  • Honorable mention: Ali Sawani, EXPRESS alumnus, and Jacob Redel.