2023 NSF GRFP Awards Announced

Several graduate students in labs in the Department of Biochemistry have received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GFRP) award or honorable mention.

Jess Davidson, a second-year graduate student in the Simcox Lab, received a NSF GFRP award this year. Davidson’s research aims to identify how bis(monacylglycero)phosphate (BMP) lipids are regulated and how these lipids contribute to lysosomal function.

“BMP lipids are important because they are associated with a number of human diseases,” explains Davidson. “The first step is figuring out how these lipids are regulated. Then we can learn more about how they function within the cell, how the ways that they’re modulated change in samples from people with diseases associated with BMP lipids.”

Julie DuClos, a second-year Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology graduate student in the Venturelli Lab, received a NSF GFRP award this year. DuClos’s research explores the effects of low oxygen levels on bacteria community assembly and function.

“I’m focusing on our gut microbiome,” says DuClos. “Low oxygen levels have a huge impact on the metabolism of these bacteria, so we want to understand how resilient the communities are to changes in oxygen levels.”

Aysiah Jaeke, a Cancer Biology graduate student in the Cantor Lab and Megan Taylor, a Biophysics graduate student in the Romero Lab, received honorable mentions.

Congratulations to this year’s NSF GRFP awardees and honorable mention recipients!