May 01, 2025
Linda Blaser
Science students present at national BMB conference
Nine science majors, an alumnus, and two faculty members attended the 2025 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) national meeting in Chicago, April 12–15. Five students presented their research.
In all, more than 2,500 researchers, educators, trainees, and students from around the globe attended this year’s premier international conference in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology.
Presenting at the general poster session were: Lily Avila ’25, who earned a $500 travel award from ASBMB to attend the conference; Leslie Casares ’26; Martin Ettlin Cuitino ’27; Sebastian Gacek ’25; and Holly Kiernan ’26, a student-athlete. Kiernan received an undergraduate research award from national ASBMB for research she proposed for her senior thesis. At the ASBMB meeting, she presented her junior year work that led to her award-winning proposal.
In addition to the general poster sessions, Avila, Gacek, and Kiernan were invited to participate in the 27th annual Undergraduate Poster Competition. Over 300 top undergraduate BMB majors representing institutions from all over the United States presented at this fiercely competitive session representing the highest level of BMB research conducted by students nationwide.
“I was especially proud of how our BMB students presented themselves with such expertise, poise, and dedication.”
Disque D. and Carol Gram Deane Professor of Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Neuroscience Shubhik DebBurman and Professor and co-Chair of Biology and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Karen Kirk accompanied the Forester team, as they regularly do to support students presenting faculty/student collaborative research in BMB labs at the college.
A BMB educator and researcher, DebBurman has been an ASBMB faculty member since 1998. “I am proud to be part of this national organization that stands out as a scientific leader in undergraduate education and sees its mission to help build and empower young molecular life scientists to advance discovery,” he said.
“I always feel professionally rewarded seeing our students feel at home thriving at this meeting and see them stand out for their professionalism and preparation,” he said. “Their outstanding research consistently elicits accolades and praise from my colleagues at other institutions and from industry professionals.”
As a judge at the poster competition, Kirk offers this viewpoint: “I saw impressive work across the board—but I was especially proud of how our BMB students presented themselves with such expertise, poise, and dedication,” she said.
Five students present four posters
- Avila, a BMB major, presented her senior thesis, “Telomerase Expression Levels Vary During Meiosis in Tetrahymena Thermophila,” which she conducted in Kirk’s telomerase research lab. Co-authors Dawid Oleksy ’26 and Victoria Kutkovska ’27 also attended the conference.
- Gacek, a neuroscience major, presented his senior project, “Pathogenicity Assessment of Three Newer Alpha-Synuclein Mutants Under Varying Expression Levels in Yeast Reveals Differential Toxicit,” which he conducted in DebBurman’s lab where Parkinson’s and related disorders are studied. Co-author Mieng Chandavimol ’26 also attended the conference.
- Casares, a neuroscience major, and Kiernan, a neuroscience and BMB double major, co-presented their current research, “Synucleinopathies: Molecular Determinants of β-Synuclein and γ-Synuclein Toxicity in a Yeast Model,” which they conducted in DebBurman’s lab where Parkinson’s and related disorders are studied. Co-authors Kate Feist ’27, a neuroscience and BMB double major, and Mieng Chandavimol ’27, a neuroscience sophomore, attended.
- Cuitino, a neuroscience and psychology double major, presented “Glial-specific function of the Endoplasmic Reticulum Membrane Protein Complex (EMC): distinct roles of individual subunits,” based on research conducted in Assistant Professor of Biology Rebecca Delventhal’s traumatic brain injury research lab. Co-author, alumnus, and current Delventhal lab manager Otoha Tatami ‘24 also attended.
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This experience helped prepare me to present my research in front of others. It was good practice. I learned how to communicate my scientific findings better and filter my data to present only the findings most relevant to my conclusions.
Lily Avila ’25 will gain more clinical and research experience while applying to MD/PhD programs.
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A big takeaway I got from my experience at ASBMB is that it's an opportunity to share work and to get insight from others. The attendees aren't there to criticize your work so much as they are trying to help improve it.
Sebastian Gacek ’25 will work in a research tech position before pursuing a PhD.
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One of my biggest takeaways from the ASBMB conference experience was just how broad science is and how easily I could expand into other avenues of work. There is so much interesting research going on right now from neurodegenerative diseases to cancer, and I am very grateful to be a part of this much larger network working on projects bigger than ourselves.
Holly Kiernan ’26 hopes to obtain a PhD in neuroscience or BMB—or both!
About ASBMB
ASBMB is an international nonprofit scientific and educational organization with over 11,000 members, made up of students, researchers, educators and industry professionals. It is one of the largest molecular life science societies in the world. For more than 100 years, its community has pioneered new discoveries in the molecular life sciences that drive medical advances and therapies for many disorders and diseases, as well as many other applications ranging from environmental to agricultural.
Holly Kiernan ’26 (above) and Leslie Casares ’26 co-presented their research; co-authors Kate Feist ’27 and Mieng Chandavimol ’27 attended.
Martin Ettlin Cuitino ’27 presented research conducted in Dr. Rebecca Delventhal’s traumatic brain injury lab. Co-author Otoha Tatami ‘24 also attended.
Leslie Casares ’26 (above) and Holly Kiernan ’26 co-presented their research; co-authors Kate Feist ’27 and Mieng Chandavimol ’27 attended.
Sebastian Gacek ’25 presented his senior project conducted in the D-Lab. Co-author Mieng Chandavimol ’26 also attended the conference.