Schmid College saw three of its
biology
students receive awards at the most recent
TriBeta
West Coast Regional Conference. TriBeta, a national biological honor society, offers students the opportunity to showcase their research and get feedback from elite minds in the field of biology.

Amy Ortega
and
Kristen Gabriel
received second place for the Frank G. Brooks award for excellence in undergraduate research presented in an oral presentation. Ortega’s presentation was in the organism biology category, while Gabriel’s was in molecular biology.

Gabriel, a junior majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology, said that her favorite part of of the conference was meeting new friends who shared her passion for research.

And her passion for research could provide significant benefits.

“I am interested in exploring EGR-1 as a master regulator of prostate field cancerization,” Gabriel said. “I want to eliminate the trouble one out of every three men experience with a misdiagnosed false negative.”

Emily Frisch
received second place at the conference for the John C. Johnson award for excellence in undergraduate research presented in a poster session in the molecular biology category.

Frisch blended her passion for biology with an interest in language and global culture.

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Emily Frisch in Peru



She recently returned from the Peruvian Amazon, where she researched the health structure of the Shipibo community while translating a book with Dr. Pilar Valenzuela. As a premed student, Frisch said she was particularly interested in the Shipibo community’s mix of western medicine  and their traditional Shaman practices.

 

In other Schmid College biology notoriety,
Stephen Punton ’13
was just accepted into Cornell Veterinary School.