Pace Students Take Home Biology Awards at William Paterson University Undergraduate Research Symposium

Three Pace University students earned awards for their work at the 17th Annual William Paterson University Undergraduate Research Symposium in late April.

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Sam Kurtin ’24, Biology, won a first-place award in the category "Cell and Molecular Biology (Group B)" for his poster "The Role of The Unfolded Protein Response in the Malfunction of a Human PQ-Type Calcium Channel." Kurtin’s research was done under the mentorship of Associate Professor of Biology Zafir Buraei, PhD.

Zoubeida (Zouzou) Fliesen ’24, Biology, also with faculty sponsor Buraei, took home first place in the category "Cell and Molecular Biology (Group C)" for his poster "Optimizing In Vitro Transcription to Study PQ Channel Mutations Implicated in Epilepsy."

Wenkai (Kevin) Huang ’25, Childhood Education (School of Education) won a pair of second-place awards: one in the category "Physiology, Behavior & Toxicology" for his poster "Analysis of Shoot Circumnutation Developmental Profile in Arabidopsis Thaliana" under the mentorship of Associate Professor of Biology Eric Brenner, PhD, and one in the category "Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Science" for his poster "The Bacterial Symbionts of the Parasitic Plant Rafflesia— Microscopic Partners For Conserving The World’s Largest Flowers?" with Sara Musovic and Associate Professor of Biology Jeanmarie Molina, PhD.

Pace University was one of 32 institutions from the Northeast region represented at the symposium, including Princeton, Columbia, Barnard, and Stevens Institute of Technology.