Congratulations to the 18 MSP undergraduate students who recently received best poster awards for their research at the 2019 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) in Anaheim. Presentations were given by over 5,000 participants from more than 700 institutions at one of the nation’s largest conferences for underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

In addition to the oral and poster presentations given by exceptional STEM students, prominent researchers from across the country were invited to give scientific lectures to those in attendance. BioSci’s Celia Goulding, Chair of the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, and Marcelo Wood, Chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, were among the special guests.

The BioSci Minority Science Programs initiative was created in a joint effort with the National Institutes of Health. MSPs primary goal is to increase minority participation in the biological sciences. The program is run by Director Luis Mota-Bravo, Ph.D., and Associate Director Marlene de la Cruz, Ph.D. Participants in the program conduct research projects with faculty mentors and present their projects at national conferences like ABRCMS on an annual basis.   

The following list includes the names of the MSP students who received an award (first author of the poster), along with the names of co-authors and principal investigators (last author) and their research titles:

2019 ABRCMS, Anaheim, California 

• Sofia Alfaro, Michelle Digman, Francesco Palomba. Mapping active p53 proteins using confocal microscopy.
• Andrew J. Alvarez, Brendan T. Finicle, Aimee L. Edinger. Starving cancer cells by activating a protein phosphatase.
• Sarah N. Batarseh, Tiffany N. Batarseh, Shaun M. Hug, Brandon S. Gaut. Investigating thermal niche trade-offs associated with evolutionary rescue mutations in Escherichia coli.
• Francisco J. Brenes, Amelie Garenaux, Luis Mota-Bravo. Environmental Escherichia coli as a source of agriculturally associated resistance to chloramphenicol and tetracycline antibiotics.
• Jazmin Candelario, Amelie Garenaux, Luis Mota-Bravo. Conjugative plasmid with an IS26 flanked multi-drug resistance region found in environmental Escherichia coli.
• Alyssa C. Carrillo, Iván Muñoz-Gutiérrez, Luis Mota-Bravo. Escherichia coli from an aquatic migratory bird from New York carries a novel conjugative multidrug-resistant plasmid.
• Ruby Castillo, Amelie Garenaux, Luis Mota-Bravo. A multidrug resistant ESBL-producing Klebsiella oxytoca isolated from the environment carries a conjugative plasmid related to clinical isolates.
• Sabrina Estrada, Amelie Garenaux, Luis Mota-Bravo. Class 1 integron from clinical multi-drug resistant bacteria found in a conjugative plasmid in an environmental Citrobacter freundii from the Hudson River, NY.
• Joe C. Gonzales, Gaurav Jha, Joshua M. Ziegler, Ilektra Andoni, Reginald M. Penner. Programming mesoporosity of Niobium (V) Oxide thin films.
• Gisselle Jimenez, Amelie Garenaux, Luis Mota-Bravo. Multi-drug resistance conjugative plasmid carrying ESBL-encoding gene shared between environmental and community-associated Escherichia coli isolates.
• Hugo Mendez, Iván Muñoz-Gutiérrez, Luis Mota-Bravo. Plasmid of a Citrobacter freundii from a Canada goose in New York carries a globally dispersed integron with antibiotic resistance genes.
• Aldo J. Muñoz, Iván Muñoz-Gutiérrez, Luis Mota-Bravo. Escherichia coli isolate from the Hudson River carries antibiotic resistant and enterotoxin-coding senB genes in plasmids.
• Karina Navarro Alvarez, Amelie Garenaux, Luis Mota-Bravo. Resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics through a conjugative plasmid carrying an IS1294-blaCMY-2 transposition unit in an environmental Escherichia coli.
• Ieeshiah Otarola, Wendy Wenderski, Gerald Crabtree (Stanford University). Role of estrogen in serotonergic neuronal development and function.
• Kelsey N. Salcido, Claudia A. Benavente. Role of UHRF1 in osteosarcoma and its relationship with RB.
• Ashley Urrutia Avila, Amelie Garenaux, Luis Mota-Bravo. Plasmid-borne class 1 integron harboring antibiotic resistance gene cassettes in an environmental Klebsiella oxytoca.
• Leslie Vazquez, Iván Muñoz-Gutiérrez, Luis Mota-Bravo. Escherichia coli from a migratory bird harbors a plasmid carrying a virulence factor and antibiotic resistance genes.
• Rosa G. Serrano, A.J. Dukes, A. Pushkin, J.P. Fowler, V. Lallai, C.D. Fowler. The effects of adolescent nicotine and cannabinoid exposure on adult behavior.