Congratulations to the Fall 2024 Undergraduate Travel Awardees!

To promote excellence in undergraduate research and education, GSA established the Undergraduate Travel Award, which supports travel costs for undergraduate members who are presenting at and attending a GSA conference.

Congratulations to the 2024 awardees!

Adam Aldahir
Tulane University

I am studying the hepatocyte like oenocyte as a model for liver cancer.

Nikki Andrews
Southern Oregon University

My research investigates the response of wild nematodes to fire exposed food sources.

Deborah Ashiedu
Bridgewater State University

I am investigating how the knockdown of the gene ppt-1 affects lipid droplet and metabolic pathways in C. elegans to uncover potential links to Alzheimer’s disease.

Ashley Bentz
University of Oklahoma

My research explores the regulation and evolution of a novel gene and its role in the development of a reproductive structure in Drosophila.

Sol Cabrera
Centre College

The impact of mating on the proboscis extension response in female Drosophila melanogaster.

Carolyn Chen
University of Toronto – St. George

I am currently investigating how fungal parasites are able to infect and grow inside their hosts.

Juliana Christie
Lafayette College

My research investigates the role of the Myc transcription factor in regulating histone gene expression in Drosophila to gain insights into the complex interactions of the histone locus body.

Margaret Cubitt
Grand Valley State University

My research focuses on determining where histamine acetylation is occurring in D. melanogaster through the identification of AANATL-7 gene expression location.

Marina Curchitser
Johns Hopkins University

I am studying chromatin regulators of stochastic gene expression during Drosophila eye development.

Carlie Epstein
GSU

I study Alzheimer’s Model research in Drosophila melanogaster larvae.

Rebecca Fakunle
Centre College

Characterizing the impact of mating on the Proboscis Extension Response (PER) in female Drosophila melanogaster.

Regan Farringer
Juniata College

My research focuses on the impact of muscle-specific GBA expression within fruit flies exhibiting Parkinson’s like symptoms

Taylor Herist
Suffolk University

My research focuses on understanding the genes in C. elegans that help regulate the neurotransmitter glutamate.

Stephen kataria
Juniata College

My research focuses on the expression of Gba gene in Drosophila melanogaster (PD).

Hannah Lee
University of California Irvine

My study investigates whether varying dietary conditions also influence the epigenetic regulation of transposable elements (TEs).

Callie Millette
Bridgewater State University

I am investigating how knocking down the gene gsk-3 affects physical health and cognitive function in C. elegans within the context of Huntington’s Disease

Lillie Mitchell
Boston College

My work seeks to understand the mechanisms that Drosophila use to heal after UV-A irradiation.

Maryam Mukhtarov
University of Houston

My research studies how changing a protein in fruit flies affects their lifespan and links the immune system, gut bacteria, and aging.

Carolynn O’Donnell
West Chester University

I am investigating the effects of the Orsay virus and its variants on the fertility of the nematode C. elegans.

Aiswaryaa Prabaharan
Rutgers University

My research investigates the conservation and features of long-range chromatin loops in Drosophila species.

Marciella Shallomita
Eastern Mennonite University

My research examines how the loss of sert, a gene responsible for serotonin uptake in Drosophila melanogaster, leads to increased sleep, enhanced resistance to starvation, and reduced feeding behavior.

Ilan Socolovsky-Hull
UNC Chapel Hill

We compared flies missing segments of their X chromosome and found evidence for a specific site that influences where crossovers happen and which is needed to make them happen at a normal rate.

Annette St. Jacques
University of Connecticut

I am investigating B chromosome transmission in aged oocytes of Drosophila melanogaster to better understand how age-related meiotic errors affect chromosome segregation.

James Wu
University of British Columbia

My research focuses on how a regulator of cell stress impacts sensory function and behavior using the worm model C. elegans.

Amanda Xu
University of Michigan

My research focuses on developing computational neural networks for the detection and quantification of C. elegans behavior