Undergraduates Garner Research Awards

University of North Dakota undergraduate students were recognized for their research accomplishments at the 9th Annual American Indian Health Research Conference and 2011 North Dakota INBRE Annual Symposium for Undergraduate Research held October 27–29 in Grand Forks. Three students won Alan J. Allery Undergraduate American Indian Health Researcher of Promise awards: Bethany Davis, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, senior biology major and psychology/deaf studies minor, for her presentation titled Alpha-1A Adrenergic Receptor Stimulation Improves Mood in Mice. Davis\u27 mentor is Dr. Van Doze in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Therapeutics. Sarita Eastman, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, senior psychology major, for her presentation titled Spirituality as a Protective Factor in American Indian Mental Health. Eastman\u27s mentor is Dr. Jacque Gray in the Center for Rural Health. Melissa Wheeler, Diné from the Navajo Nation, senior psychology major, for her presentation titled Alcohol and Other Drug Use among Northern Plains Indians. Her poster had also been previously selected as Outstanding Poster by Psychologists in Indian Country at the American Psychological Association conference in Washington, D.C. in August. Wheeler\u27s mentor is Dr. Jacque Gray in the Center for Rural Health. Two UND undergraduates were recognized at the 7th Annual Undergraduate Research in the Molecular Sciences meeting held October 29 at Minnesota State University–Moorhead: Erin Holdman, senior medical laboratory science major from Kenora, Ontario, received a $400 travel award to present her work at the 2012 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in San Diego, Calif., for her presentation titled Structural Analysis of Immuno-enriched FAM129b from Rat Lung Tissue. Holdman\u27s mentor is Dr. John Shabb in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Joshua Maliske, senior biology major from Bismarck, N.D., also received a $400 travel award to present his work at the 2012 American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in San Diego, Calif., for his presentation titled \u27TRPC1-STIM1-Orai1\u27 is the Core SOCE Complex in Proliferating Mesenchymal Stem Cells. Maliske\u27s mentors are Drs. Brij Singh and Joyce Ohm in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology