Congratulations to 2020 Dean’s Undergraduate Research Award winners Taylor Real and Liam Tran, both mentored by Dr. Sofie Salama of the Institute for the Biology of Stem Cells at UC Santa Cruz and the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute Scientific Director Dr. David Haussler.
Each year, the ten most excellent undergraduate theses or projects per academic division are selected for this award.
Taylor is majoring in molecular, cell, and developmental biology (MCDB) in the Division of Physical & Biological Sciences (UC Santa Cruz Science) and worked with MCDB graduate student Gary Mantalas on a method to better identify sequence variations in the human NOTCH2NL genes. These genes are involved in normal brain development and, if altered, potentially in diseases caused by abnormal brain development. Read more about her thesis project [here].
Liam is majoring in biomolecular engineering (BME) in the Jack Baskin School of Engineering. Liam worked with BME graduate student Lauren Sanders — whose research supports the Treehouse Childhood Cancer Initiative — using organoids to characterize the effect of a specific histone mutation that occurs in an aggressive form of pediatric glioma. Read more about his thesis project [here].
Recent Comments