Darius McKoy is a Biological Sciences (B.S.) major and Psychology (Minor) who will graduate in Spring, 2020.

List any Scholars/Honors programs you are a part of: Meyerhoff Scholar, HHMI Scholar, President's List, Dean's List, LSAMP Participant

Title of your research project: The Role of Protein Synthesis in Cellular Arrest and Organismal Survival Under Anoxia

Describe your project: The phenomenon is that zebrafish can survive up to 50 hours by halting their development to converse energy. In the lab, we are analyzing the signaling pathways that allow this arrest to occur.

Who is your mentor(s) for your project? Dr. Rachel Brewster, Biological Sciences. I became interested in Dr. Brewster because of recommendations from past students. I chose her because from meeting with her and talking to the graduate students, it was clear that she would push me to become the best researcher that I could be.

How did you become interested in this project? I became interested in the project because I realized that it can have some real medical applications and can impact human health which aligns with my career goals. 

What has been the hardest part about your research/what was the most unexpected thing about being a researcher? The hardest part has been managing time in lab with classes and other commitments but keeping track of my time can greatly benefited me. I had to learn that patience was key to survival in a research lab.

What has been the most rewarding part? Finally getting things to work after troubleshooting for a long time and gaining approval from graduate students.

How will you disseminate your research? URCAD Presentation and a future publication 

What is your advice to other students about getting involved in research? At UMBC, the opportunities are endless. A simple email asking to meet with a faculty member to discuss their research can do the trick.

What are your career goals? Obtain a MD/PhD in neurobiology and become a successful neuroscientist and anesthesiologist, then start a medical company.

Want to be featured as a Researcher of the Week?  Email: aprilh@uumbc.edu 

UMBC CSEE student and alumna to attend Heidelberg Laureate Forum

A UMBC Ph.D. student and an alumna have been selected to participate in this year’s international Nobel laureate forums, which connect top student engineers and scientists from universities around the globe with the world’s leading scientific researchers.

Kavita Krishnaswamy ‘07, computer science and mathematics, and Ph.D. ‘18, computer science, will attend the Heidelberg Laureate Forum, and Naomi Mburu ‘18, chemical engineering, will attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Forum. William Easley ‘13, information systems management, M.S. ‘15, human-centered computing, and Ph.D. ‘22, human-centered computing, was also nominated to participate in the Heidelberg Laureate Forum.

“These competitive events bring great minds, who have been recognized for outstanding scientific achievement, together with a new generation of scientists, who are considered to be among the top young minds from countries around the world,” explains Renetta Tull, associate vice provost for strategic initiatives. She is delighted to say, “This year, we have not one, but two students from UMBC who will receive this significant honor.”

Naomi Mburu. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.

Mburu, the first UMBC student to receive the Rhodes Scholarship, will attend the 68th Lindau Nobel Laureate meeting, June 24 – 29, in Lindau, Germany. The meeting brings approximately 500 undergraduate and Ph.D. students, and post-doctoral researchers together from around the globe to promote connections between scientists across generations, cultures, and disciplines. Each year the focus of the meeting changes to address topics including physiology, medicine, physics, and chemistry.

“I am beyond excited to be attending this meeting with 40+ Nobel laureates and brilliant students from around the world,” says Mburu. “There will be opportunities to both network and speak with the Nobel laureates, while celebrating different cultures and learning more about advances in medicine and physiology.”

In addition to her most recent honors, Mburu received a Goldwater Scholarship in 2016. She has also already conducted research at European Organization for Nuclear Research in Switzerland.

During the one-week-long Heidelberg Laureate Forum, Krishnaswamy will have the opportunity to connect and network with leaders in the fields of mathematics and computer science. The forum will be held at Heidelberg University in Germany, September 22 – 28.

Kavita Krishnaswamy. Photo by Britney Clause ’11.

Krishnaswamy is one of just 200 students from around the world selected to participate in the Heidelberg Laureate Forum. She shares, “I am very thankful for the opportunity to represent UMBC and help promote the public understanding of mathematics and computer science from the perspective of improving the quality of life for individuals with physical disabilities through the advancement of robotics.”

Krishnaswamy’s previous honors include being named a Microsoft Fellow and received the Google Lime Scholars in 2017, prestigious honors that recognize emerging scholars in computing who are dedicated to increasing diversity in the industry.

“At UMBC we think of our university as an institution committed to inclusive excellence that prepares students who can compete on a global scale,” Tull reflects. “Kavita and Naomi’s awards signify that others around the world agree.”

Adapted from a UMBC news article by Megan Hanks. Banner image: Nobel Prize. Photo by Flickr user Adam Baker under license CC BY 2.0.

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