Quinnipiac Chapter Hosts 5th Student Research Conference

Submitted by Martha Sanders, Quinnipiac Chapter President

On April 20, 2016, the Quinnipiac Chapter of Sigma Xi in Hamden, Connecticut, hosted its fifth Graduate and Undergraduate Student Research Conference, with over 35 poster and podium presenters. Over 150 attendees viewed presentations from a variety of disciplines including biology, biomedical sciences, chemistry and physical sciences, occupational therapy, health sciences, and athletic training.

A team of over 15 scientists from Quinnipiac University and from the CT Agricultural Experiment Station judged the posters and awarded winners in the following categories:

Undergraduate Poster winner: Alexander M. Preisig, “Characterizing the role of the bacteriophage φBB-1 as an agent of horizontal gene transfer in Borrelia burgdorferi”

Graduate Poster winner: Mathew Cyr, “Functions of MicroRNAs in the C. elegans Immune Response to Bacterial Infection” 

Research Paper of the Year winners were: Barron Lincoln and Dr. Lani Keller who published, “Drosophila Neuronal Injury Follows a Temporal Sequence of Cellular Events Leading to Degeneration at the Neuromuscular Junction” in the Journal of Experimental Neuroscience.

The Distinguished Lecturer Dr. “Wunmi” Sadik presented an innovative approach to personal food monitoring in the future in her lecture: "Can your iPhone Tell You What's in Your Food?  Nanosensors for Rapid Detection of Food Pathogen."