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UVI Students Win Awards at National Science Conference

UVI students winners, from left, Tobias Ortega Knight, Tasha Cornelle, Shenee' Martin and Danny Lynch show their awards from the Biomedical Research Conference.Four students from the University of the Virgin Islands’ College of Science and Mathematics, along with two recent graduates, received awards after displaying their work at the 12th Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students in San Jose, Calif.

More than 3,000 people, including 1,800 students from 350 colleges in the United States and the U.S. territories of the Virgin Islands, Puerto and Guam competed for awards in mathematical, biomedical and behavioral sciences, according to a statement from UVI.

The local winners include:

• Tasha Corneille, a junior biology major who won a best poster presentation award in the category of engineering, physics and mathematics for work that she did this summer at UVI on overfishing in the Virgin Islands.

• Shenee’ Martin, a junior psychology major who won a best poster award in neurosciences for Alzheimer ’s disease research conducted this summer at the University of Puerto Rico.

• Tobias Ortega-Knight, a junior computer science major who won a best poster award in the category of molecular and computational biology for research conducted this summer at Michigan State University. Tobias’ research involved a computer program to analyze data from microbes found inside the human body.

• Danny Lynch, a junior computer science major also won a best poster award in the molecular and computational biology category for research conducted this summer at Michigan State University. Lynch’s research involved a computer program to analyze Ribonucleic Acid sequences to better understand gene expression and function.

The winning students each received $250 for their presentations. Ortega-Knight and Martin each received an additional $50 prize for outstanding interdisciplinary work in their fields.

Two UVI biology alumni who graduated in May also won prizes:

• Nicole Fleming, now in a post-baccalaureate program at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, won a best poster award in cell biology.

• Blanche Letang, now in a post-baccalaureate program at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, won a best poster award in immunology.

“UVI’s record was truly outstanding,” said Teresa Turner, director of UVI’s National Institutes of Health funded programs. “It was an amazing performance. Our students now realize that their work is as competitive as the best undergraduate research in the country.”

“The opportunity to conduct cutting-edge research and present it to other scientists is a key part of the educational experience,” she continued.

The Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students is the largest professional conference for biomedical and behavioral students, according to the conference website. The conference attracts about 3,300 students and 1,200 faculty and administrators each year. Attendees represent more than 350 U.S. colleges and universities.

According to the UVI announcement, funding for the research and travel came from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, as well as from donors to the college.

UVI winners presented research conducted on St. Thomas and St. Croix, as well as off-island at partner institutions such as Johns Hopkins, Boston University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, West Michigan University and the University of Maryland.

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