Loren E. Wold Research Award
The Loren E. Wold Research Awards were established by Biology alumnus Dr. Loren E. Wold (CAS ’97), a distinguished research scientist and Professor at Ohio State University. Dr. Wold is a strong advocate of undergraduate research and mentoring.
Each award supports summer research projects up to $6,000 for salary and a $200 Conference Travel Award. Four awards will be given annually. The award is open to high-achieving Biology undergraduates working in research labs of faculty in the Department of Biology and other departments in the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Medicine, or the School of Public Health, as well as Boston University undergraduates from other majors working with a Department of Biology faculty member.
Awardees will be selected from the funded UROP applicant pool, in consultation with the Chair of Biology and the Biology Honors Committee.
2023 Awardees
Luciano Foranoce, a BMB major, is conducting research with Professor John Celenza (CAS Biology) on a project titled “Characterization of Arabidopsis mutants with growth sensitivity to exogenous acetyl salicylic acid, a regulator of plant innate immunity.”
Clifton Johnson, a Biology major, is conducting research with Professor Tuan Leng Tay (MED Anatomy and Neurobiology) on a project titled “Unraveling the Role of Microglia in Acute Neurodegeneration Recovery: Characterizing Phagocytic Activity and Morphological Phenotypes.”
Jason Shi, a Biology major, is conducting research with Professor Kim McCall (CAS Biology) on a project titled “Investigation of mechanisms underlying neuronal corpses clearance in glial phagocytosis-deficient fly brains.”
Nicole Zakskorn, a Biochemistry major, is conducting research with Professor Francisco Naya (CAS Biology) on a project titled “Determining the function of the Dlk1-Dio3 locus in cardiomyocyte differentiation.”
2022 Awardees
Erika Broeker, a Biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Francisco Naya (CAS Biology) on a project titled “Determining the role of the lncRNA Meg3 in Cell Lineage Determination.”
Douglas Alvarado, a BMB major, is conducting research with Dr. Peter Buston (CAS Biology) on a project titled “An Investigation of Genetic Mechanisms Underlying Strategic Growth in the Clown Anemonefish Amphiprion Percula.”
Evelyn Harper, a Biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Angela Ho (CAS Biology) on a project titled “Neurodevelopmental effects of inhibiting the Aldolase A – Actin interaction.”
Judy Wong, a BMB major, is conducting research with Dr. Thomas Gilmore (CAS Biology) on a project titled “Effect of Human Disease Mutations in a Central Region of the Scaffold Protein-NEMO on Cellular Activity.”
2021 Awardees
Niharika Desai, a Biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Thomas Gilmore (CAS Biology) on a project titled “Nutrition and NF-κB in Aiptasia.”
Helen Feng, a Biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Ana Fiszbein (CAS Biology) on a project titled “Interrogate the Interaction Between Transcription from Alternative Promoters.”
James Lu, a Biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Xaralabos Varela (MED Biochemistry) on a project titled “Understanding the role of nuclear YAP in affecting ciliated cell fate.”
Kelley McCutcheon, a biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Cynthia Bradham (CAS Biology) on a project titled “Characterizing Effects of Perfluorooctanoic Acid on Skeletal Patterning in Lytechinus variegatus.”
Katherine Sotiropoulou, a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Jennifer Bhatnagar (CAS Biology) on a project titled “The Effects of Environmental Carbon and Nitrogen Availability on Plant-Ectomycorrhizal-Saprotroph interactions.”
Kimberly Tran, A Biochemistry and Molecular Biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Juan Fuxman Bass (CAS Biology) on a project titled “Investigating the effects of Zaire Ebola Virus Transcription Regulators on Host Chromatin Structure.”
2020 Awardees
Sarah Anwar, a Biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Laura Lowery (MED Medicine) on a project titled, “Investigating the Cell Biological Mechanism of New Potential Cancer Therapeutics.”
Kylie Blake, an Environmental Science major, is conducting research with Dr. Pamela Templer (CAS Biology) on a project titled, “A Meta-Analysis of Atmospheric Inputs of Phosphorus to Urban and Rural Ecosystems.”
Kurt Castro, a Marine Science major, is conducting research with Dr. Peter Buston (CAS Biology), on a project titled, “Plasticity of Dispersal-related Traits in Response to Environmental Variation in the Clown Anemonefish, Amphiprion percula.”
Megan Sheeran, a Biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Valentina Perissi (MED Biochemistry) on a project titled, “Role of NEURL4 Protein in mtDNA Maintenance and Regulation of Immune Response in Mouse Myoblast Cell Model.”
2019 Awardees
Cairo De Souza, a biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Mike Garcia-Marcos (MED Biochemistry) on a project titled, “Elucidating GINIP’s Competition with RGS Proteins and Role in Regulating Gαi Protein Signaling in Cortical Neurons.”
Madison Pacaro, a biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Peter Buston (CAS Biology) on a project titled, “Nocturnal Parental Care in the Clown Anemonefish, Amphiprion Percula.”
Audrey Tran, a biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Hengye Man (CAS Biology) on a project titled, “Investigating Changes to AMPA Receptor Expression and Modification in an Animal Model of Cocaine Addiction.”
Rose Zhao, a biochemistry and molecular biology major, is conducting research with Dr. Trevor Siggers (CAS Biology) on a project titled, “Using Protein-Binding Microarrays to Study Cofactor Recruitment in Transcriptional Complexes.”