D-Lab: News and Stories

Academics / Welcome to the D-Lab / News

D-Lab students regularly present at Chicago-area or national conference conferences, apply for national grants, and become co-authors on publications.

Lab in the Limelight

	At the 2018 Chicago Society for Neuroscience Meeting, Disque D. and Carol Gram Deane Professor of Biological Sciences Shubhik DebBurman received the Chicago Society for Neuroscience Career Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions to neuroscience education.
	Congratulations to Rosemary Thomas ’18, Paul Jones ’18 and Yoan Ganev ’19 for being inducted into the 2018 Class of Phi Beta Kappainductees at Lake Forest College. The Phi Beta Kappa Society is the oldest academic honor society in the country and it honors students across the United States for excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.
	Congratulations to Chisomo Mwale ’19, a neuroscience major, for being named the senior 2018-19 Foster G McGaw Scholarship recipient at Lake Forest College and for selection to college’s Senior 25. Both awards community-wide recognition for outstanding leadership and service to the college community.
	Congratulations to Yoan Ganev ’19, a neuroscience and chemistry double major, for receiving a 2018 Goldwater Scholarship Honorable Mention. The Goldwater Scholarship is the most prestigious national undergraduate science scholarship awarded to students with the highest potential for PhD studies based on their undergraduate record
	Congratulations to Ariane Balaram ’20, a biology and neuroscience major, for receiving a 2018 national Undergraduate Research Grant from the Nu Rho Psi National Council for her proposal titled “Assessment of Synergism Between α-Synuclein and other Parkinson’s Disease Genes in Yeast”. Ariane will attend the 2018 National Nu Rho Psi Meeting in San Diego (CA) to receive this award and she will present her research at the 2018 Annual Society for Neuroscience Meeting (November 2-6, San Diego, CA).
	Congratulations to Yoan Ganev ’19, a neuroscience and chemistry double major, for receiving a 2018 American Parkinson Disease Association- Parkinson Foundation National Research Grant for his senior thesis research proposal titled “Evaluation of Combinatorial Impact of Post-translational Modifications on α-Synuclein in a Yeast Model”. Yoan will attend the 2018 Annual Society for Neuroscience Meeting (November 2-6, San Diego, CA) to present this work.
	Rosemary Thomas ’18 graduated in spring 2018 with majors in Biology and Neuroscience and she received distinction in her senior thesis on Parkinson’s disease. Rosemary recently won the Third Prize in the 2018 Chicago Society for Neuroscience meeting. Rosemary is planning for medical school, after 1-2 gap years of biomedical research.
	Paul Jones ’18 graduated in fall 2017 with a major in Neuroscience and he received distinction in his senior thesis on Parkinson’s disease. Paul is currently applying for Ph.D. studies in the life sciences and has already been accepted to multiple PhD programs. He will pursue his PhD at Washington University St. Louis.
	Emily Ong ’17 won the First Prize at the 2017 World Congress on Neurological disorders held in Chicago (IL) in July 2017. Emily also was awarded the *2017 Phi Beta Kappa* Senior Thesis Award** at Lake Forest College for her senior thesis, for which she was also awarded distinction. Emily is applying for medical school.
	Yoan Ganev ’19 and Chisomo Mwale ’19, both neuroscience majors, won First and Second Prizes in the undergraduate research competitionfor presenting their research on Parkinson’s disease in yeasts models at the 2017 Great Lakes Chapter American Society of Pharmaceutical and Experimental Therapeutics meeting. Both are is planning to pursue MD degrees after graduation.
	Emily Ong ’17, neuroscience major, and Rosemary Thomas ’18, neuroscience and biology major, each won individual Second Prizes in the undergraduate research competition for presenting their research on Parkinson’s disease in yeasts models at the 2016 Great Lakes Chapter American Society of Pharmaceutical and Experimental Therapeutics meeting. Both are is planning to pursue MD degrees after graduation.
	Paul Jones ’18, a neuroscience junior, has received a 2016 Nu Rho Psi research grant to investigate potential risk factors linked to sporadic Parkinson’s disease. Paul is planning to pursue a PhD in neuroscience after graduation.
	Emily Ong ’17, a neuroscience senior, has received a 2016 Parkinson’s Disease Foundation summer grant (one of ten awards from a national pool of 60+ applications from medical, graduate, and undergraduate students). Emily will investigate how newly identified familial mutants of alpha-synuclein cause Parkinson’s disease in yeast models. Emily hopes to attend medical school after graduation.
	Morgan Marshall ’16, a biology major with an Art minor, won the First Prize in the undergraduate research competition for presenting her senior research project on new familial mutants of the parkinson’s disease protein at the 2016 Chicago Society for Neuroscience meeting on April 8. Morgan is planning for a future career ain medical illustration after working for 1-2 years in full-time biomedical research at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine.
	Saul Bello Rojas ’16, a neuroscience major with a chemistry minor, won the Second Prize in the undergraduate research competition for presenting his research on the properties of naturally occuring alpha-synuclein variants at the 2015 Great Lakes Chapter American Society of Pharmaceutical and Experimental Therapeutics meeting. Saul is planning to pursue PhD studies in pharmacology and is currently a research technologist in Opthamology Department at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. He will participate in the post-baccalaureate PREP program at Northwestern University, starting fall 2017.
	Alexandra Roman ’16, a neuroscience major with minors in chemistry and music, has received a 2015 Nu Rho Psi summer grant (one of just two awards made annually). She also won the Third Prize in the undergraduate research competition for presenting her Richter fellowship initiated research at the 2015 (March 20, 2015). Alex is currently a research technician at RFUMS and is applying for medical school.
	CharlesAlvarado’16, a neuroscience major with an educational studies minor, won the First Prize in the undergraduate research competition for presenting his research on the effects of c-terminal truncations of alpha-synuclein at the 2014 Great Lakes Chapter American Society of Pharmaceutical and Experimental Therapeutics meeting on June 13. Charles completed his Masters of Arts in Teaching from Lake Forest College in 2017 and is planning for a future career as a high science teacher.
	Maiwase Tembo ’15, a biology major and neuroscience major, won the First Prize in the undergraduate research competition for presenting her endocytosis regulation of alpha-synuclein at the 2013 Great Lakes Chapter American Society of Pharmaceutical and Experimental Therapeutics meeting (June 14, 2013). More recently, she has also won the Third Prize in the undergraduate research competition at the 2014 Chicago Society for Neuroscience meeting meeting (April 4, 2014). Wase is currently pusruing a PhD in biomedical sciences at the University of Pittsburgh.
	Katrina Campbell ’14, a biology major and neuroscience minor, won the *Second Prize* in the undergraduate research competition for presenting her Richter fellowship initiated research at the 2012 Great Lakes Chapter American Society of Pharmaceutical and Experimental Therapeutics meeting (June 19, 2012). Katie worked as an NIH-IRTA fellow at the NIH-NIAID Rocky Mountain Labs in Hamilton, MT researching prion disease biology with Dr. Byron Caughey for two years. She is currently pursuing her PhD in neuroscience at Northwestern University.
	Natalie Kukulka ’13, a biology and neuroscience graduate, has received a 2013 Parkinson’s Disease Foundationsummer grant (one of 15 awards from a national pool of 60+ applications from medical, graduate, and undergraduate students). She also won the Third Prize in the undergraduate research competition for presenting her Richter fellowship initiated research at the 2013 Chicago Society for Neuroscience meeting meeting (March 7, 2013). Natalie worked at Northwestern Memorial Hospital doing biomedical research in urology for two years and is currently pursuing her MD at the University of Missouri at Columbia.
	Madhavi Senagolage ’12, a biology senior with minors in neuroscience and chemistry from Colombo Sri Lanka, has received a competitive 2011 FUN (Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience) Undergraduate Travel Award to present her senior thesis research at the annual Society for Neuroscience Meeting to be held in Washington (DC) from November 11-16. At this meeting, she presented a science education poster on Eukaryon as its Publication Board Chair. She also co-presented with Daniella Brutman ’12 another science education poster on the 2010 Brain Awareness Week at Lake Forest College. Previously, she received the 2nd Prize at the 2011 Chicago Society for Neuroscience meeting. She was also awarded a undergraduate research travel award from the American Society of Cell Biology (ASCB) to present her Parkinson’s disease project on endocytosis at the 2010 ASCB meeting in Philadelphia (Dec 11-14). Madhavi is currently pursuing a PhD in biology at Northwestern University.
	Keith Solvang ’11, a biology 2011 graduate, won the *First Prize* in the undergraduate research competition for presenting his Parkinson’s disease research at the 2011 Great Lakes Chapter American Society of Pharmaceutical and Experimental Therapeutics meeting (June 10, 2011). He was supported by an summer fellowship from the 2009-10 NIH American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to conduct his Parkinson’s Disease research project. Keith completed a Masters degree in biomedical sciences and then his MD degree at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Sciences.
	Alina Konnikova ’11, a biology senior from Vernon Hills Illinois, won the *First Prize* in the undergraduate research competition for presenting her Parkinson’s disease research on autophagy at the 2010 Great Lakes Chapter American Society of Pharmaceutical and Experimental Therapeutics meeting (June 19, 2010). Alina is pursuing her MD studies at the University of Illinois School of Medicine.
	Jaime Perez ’10 graduated with a biology and art double major and was the 2009-10 Foster G McGaw Scholar at the college and received the 2009 Lincoln Laureate Award. He received his Masters degree in graduate in Prosthetics and Orthotics at University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center and completed his residency in orthotic and prosthetics in Boston (MA). He is now working in Chicago as an orthotist with Hanger, Inc.
	Michael Fiske ’10, a biology 2010 graduate and a Barry Goldwater Scholarship Honorable Mention, won the *First Prize* for his Parkinson’s research senior thesis project at the national undergraduate poster competition of the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) held in Anaheim California (April 24-28, 2010). He was also a UAN-ASBMB undergraduate travel award recipient from ASBMB. He conducted his senior thesis with a research grant he received from the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. Michael was initially pursuing his PhD in biology at the University of Washington, where he was awarded Honorable Mention on his NSF predoctoral grant application in 2011. He is currently pursuing his PhD in Neuroscience at Northwestern Universityon a NIH-NRSA training grant.

Alumni Updates and Campus Returns

Alexandra Ayala ’09 is thoroughly enjoying teaching math and science to middle school aged students in Houston as a Teach for America teacher. Read more here on her daily challenges and joys.

Stephanie Valtierra ’08 (Northwestern University) returned to LFC participate in the biology department and neuroscience program career panels in 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Mithaq Vahedi ’08 completed his MD from Thomas Jefferson University in 2012 and is pursuing his residency at Wayne State University.

Michael White ’07 completed his MD from the University of Buffalo in 2012 and is pursuing his residency in Neurology at Washington University (St. Louis).

Michael Zorniak ’07 and Jessica Price ’06 hosted over 35 Lake Forest College students when we visited University of Wisconsin Madison on May 19 for the 2011 Oliver Smithies Symposium and met and heard Nobel Prize winners Stanley Prusiner and Eric Kandel and National Medal of Science winner Susan Lindquist discuss their groundbreaking research. Thanks Jessica and Mike for being such terrific alums! More here.

Katrina Brandis ’06 visited Lake Forest College as the 2011 Eukaryon Inauguration speaker and gave a seminar on her PhD work at Washington University on how cholesterol is metabolized. More here.

Lokesh Kukreja ’08 (Northwestern University), Michael Zorniak ’07 (University of Wisconsin), and Nijee Sharma ’04 (Loyola) visited the college on March 25 (2010) to lead a roundtable discussion on their PhD neuroscience research projects as part of the 2010 NeuroFrontiers Workshop .

Jessica Price ’06 returned to campus in Fall 2010 to present a biology department seminar on her PhD work on modeling land conservation at the University of Wisconsin Madison.

Sara Herrera ’05 has completed her MD in 2011 from Medical College of Wisconsin and is pursuing her surgery residency in Detroit.

Arun Paul ’05 received his PhD in 2010 from Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science and is now completing his MD. His graduate work was published in Journal of Virology, PLOS Pathology, Virology, and Cancer Research. Arun returned to campus to give a biology department seminar and career panel on 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Isaac Holmes ’05 has completed his MD from Rush Medical College in 2009 and is pursuing his Residency in cardiology at Rush University Medical Center. Isaac returned to campus to give a biology department career panel on 2010.

Nijee Sharma ’04 received her MD in 2011 and PhD in 2009 from Loyola Stritch School of Medicine. She will continue her MD residency in Neurology at University of California Davis. She published several papers, including in Experimental Neurology, Laryngoscope, and Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience. Nijee returned to campus to give a Biology Department seminar on 2008 and participated in career panels in 2009 and 2008.

Samantha England ’04 received her PhD in biology in 2011 from the University of Rochester and was selected as a 2012 New York Stem Cell Foundation Druckenmiller Fellow. Congratulations, Samantha! Her graduate work has now been published in the journals Blood and Heredity. Samantha returned to campus to give a biology department seminar on 2009.

Brandon Johnson ’03 received his PhD in 2010 from Stanford University and is continuing a postdoctoral fellowship there. His work has been published in PNAS USA, PLOS Genetics, PLOS One, and Journal of Experimentation. Brandon returned to campus to give a biology department seminar on 2005.