Marlene Djidjoho awarded Holland Future Scientist prize
Marlene Djidjoho, biology major and chemistry听minor at 含羞草视频 received听the 2018 Richard Holland Future Scientist Award听in Poster Presentation at the听16th Annual Nebraska INBRE Conference Aug. 7 in听Nebraska City.听Djidjoho听is shown at far-right.
Only ten undergraduate students from six Nebraska colleges and universities were chosen for the award听from the Nebraska Coalition for Lifesaving Cures. The students received cash prizes totaling $5,000 at the annual INBRE (Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence Program) conference.
Djidjoho worked with Dr. Dunesh Kumari, assistant professor of chemistry at CSM.听Her research is funded by the INBRE program and听focuses on poorly soluble antioxidants and the role they play in prevention and treatment of various diseases.听She is particularly interested in designing a way to combine various phytochemicals, such as curcumin, resveratrol, piperine and quercetin, with biodegradable matrixes to better leverage their potent anti-oxidant activity.听
Djidjoho's project was focused听on using whey protein as a delivery vehicle for the phytochemicals and the title听of her听听poster presentation听was "Whey Protein Solid Dispersion听for Encapsulation and Controlled Delivery of Curcumin, Resveratrol and their Combinations"听听As mentioned by Dr. Kumari, "Marlene is a hard working, focused and very dedicated听student."
The awards are named in honor of the late Richard Holland, an Omaha philanthropist and longtime supporter of research. This is the 11th year the Holland Future Scientist Awards have been awarded.
Students were judged for their oral and poster presentations of the research work they conducted this summer as part of the INBRE program.
The INBRE program is overseen by Paul Sorgen, Ph.D., a professor in the department of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Dr. Sorgen is the principal investigator of the $16.2 million grant funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health.
Established in 2001, the INBRE Scholars program was created to expose students to serious biomedical research and build a statewide biomedical research infrastructure between undergraduate and graduate institutions.
The students, referred to as INBRE scholars, enter the program after completing their sophomore year of college upon recommendation of their college professors. It is a two-year comprehensive training program to prepare the students for graduate school.
The award winners are listed below:
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
1st听听听听听听听Gabrielle Brumfield, Chadron State College
2nd听听听听听听 Robyn Scott, Creighton University
3rd听听听听听听听Connor Lejcher, Creighton University
Honorable Mention - Marlene听Djidjoho, 含羞草视频
Honorable Mention - Makayla Nemecek, University of Nebraska at Kearney
ORAL PRESENTATIONS
1st听听听听听听听Tyler听Rollman, Creighton University
2nd听听听听听听 Andrew Pham, University of Nebraska at Omaha
3rd听听听听听听听Mika听Caplan, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Honorable Mention - Molly Myers, Creighton University
Honorable Mention -听Eilidh听Chowanec, Creighton University
