Two University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo students received awards for their research at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS), a national conference held online November 9–13. ABRCMS is one of the largest professional conferences for underrepresented students. The four-day conference included more than 2,000 virtual poster and oral presentations given by undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students.
Kailee Yoshimura won her award in the category of Physiology and Pharmacology of an Undergraduate for her research project, “Development of Quercetin Containing Polymeric Nanoparticles for Oral Delivery.”
Fellow student Michelle Biete received her award in the category of Computational and Systems Biology of an Undergraduate Junior for her presentation on her presentation, “A Pragmatic Approach to Standardizing Ultrastructure Morphology in Tissue and Cell Culture.”
A total of seven UH Hilo Students of Hawaiʻi Advanced Research Program (SHARP) students, including Yoshimura and Biete, were selected to present their research in biomedical or biobehavioral science as first authors. The other student presenters were:
- Taylor A.U. Barongan, “Synthetic Studies of Antitubercular Atrovimycin”
- Kit Neikirk, “Increased Efficacy of Difluoromethylornithine and Metformin Containing Anionic Permeation Enhancers for the Treatment of Neuroblastoma”
- Evangeline Lemieux, “COVID-19 and Student Life in Hawaiʻi: Challenges, Adjustments, and Adaptations”
- Jace Taka, “Development of Resveratrol Containing Polymeric Nanoparticles for Oral Delivery”
- Jane M.U. Walsh, “Traditional Preparations of ʻAwa (Piper methysticum) Address the Intersection of Mental and Cancer Health Disparities in Native Hawaiians”
