Five OU Undergraduates Will Attend the Sigma Xi Student Research Conference

Five OU undergraduate students will be presenting their research at the upcoming Sigma Xi Student Research Conference, to be held November 8-9 in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

• Mirna Awrow studies with Dr. Frank Giblin in the Eye Research Institute. She examines how UV light can produce cataracts in the lens of the eye.
• Anias Brown works with Dr. Fabia Battistuzzi of the Department of Biological Sciences. She evaluates evolutionary rate models in prokaryotes.
• Claudiu Harta works with Dr. David Schall of the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He examinines the triboligical performance of ZnO-oil nanofluids at elevated temperatures.
• Tara Patrick studies in the laboratory of Dr. Shailesh Lal of the Department of Biological Sciences. She studies the impact of the Helitron family of transposable elements on the expression and evolution of the eukaryotic genome.
• Iva Sinamati performs research with Dr. Fabia Battistuzzi of the Department of Biological Sciences. She performs evolutionary analyses of low complexity regions in prokaryotes.

Professor Shailesh Lal, the President of the Oakland University Chapter of Sigma Xi (the national scientific research society), says that “this meeting represents an important opportunity for these outstanding young students to develop as researchers. We are very proud of them and I am certain they will represent OU well.”

Funds to send these students to this conference were supplied by the Oakland University Chapter of Sigma Xi, the Department of Biological Sciences, the Center for Biomedical Research, the Eye Research Institute, and by a grant from the National Science Foundation.