Two University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa undergraduate students earned an award an international biomedical meeting in October.
Christine Lau and Marie Ishida traveled to Daejeon, South Korea, to attend the 13th International Symposium on Selenium in Biology and Medicine. They delivered both a poster presentation and an oral presentation describing their work, which focuses on therapeutic strategies to combat Alzheimer’s disease. Christine and Marie were recognized with an award for Top Poster Presentation from the prestigious publisher Springer-Nature.
Christine and Marie conduct research under the mentorship of Dr. Daniel Torres at the Pacific Biosciences Research Center, where they study the ability of the micronutrient selenium to counteract the production of tau and beta-amyloid, two proteins involved in the progression of AD.
Christine is double majoring in Psychology and Molecular and Cell Biology, and recently got into the BAM (Bachelor’s and Master’s) Combined Degree Program for Educational Psychology. She hopes to go to medical school and become a forensic psychiatrist.
Marie is majoring in Biology, and is working towards attending medical school and becoming a physician. She states that the symposium was an unforgettable experience that allowed her to witness the various projects that researchers are conducting.