The School of Molecular & Cellular Biology is pleased to celebrate outstanding research conducted by our undergraduate students with an annual symposium.

University of Illinois faculty are behind some of the most important discoveries in the last 150 years. Students are part of this inspiring tradition of innovation. MCB faculty conduct leading research programs in biochemistry, cell and developmental biology, microbiology, and molecular and integrative physiology. Being an undergraduate researcher provides valuable experience for students, who develop skills in conducting research, communication, leadership, project management, and more. The experience also prepares students for graduate school or a possible career in research.

Eligible presenters must be declared School of MCB majors, conducting research in an MCB-related lab. This includes work done under MCB/BIOC 290 or 492 course credit and/or research done for a School of MCB SURF from the previous summer. Posters may have more than one author, but only one student can be the presenter. Students working together must submit separate posters that identify their individual accomplishments. 

The Fall 2025 symposium was held on Wednesday, November 12. Congratulations to the 2025 award winners!

School of MCB Director’s Award for Exceptional Research Presentation

Anne-Louise Anstey: mexY, a Multi-Drug Efflux Pump Component, Effects Population Structure in a Chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa Lung Infection
Research mentor: Dr. Rachel Whitaker, Department of Microbiology

Devina Joshi: Phthalate-induced disruption of uterine homeostasis and integrity
Research mentor: Dr. Indrani Bagchi, Department of Comparative Biosciences

Karla Ybanez: What Did ParA Say to TipN? Exploring Protein Interactions Involved in Chromosome Segregation
Research mentor: Dr. Paola Mera, Department of Microbiology

School of MCB Outstanding Research Presentation Award

Simon Kruczak: Driver Roll Up the Partition Please: Examining the Interactions Between a Polar Protein and Chromosome Partitioning Regulator to Properly Maintain Chromosome Partitioning
Research mentor: Dr. Paola Mera, Department of Microbiology

Vraj Patel: The Role of the Paraventricular Thalamus in Encoding Energy States and Food Consumption
Research mentor: Dr. Patrick Sweeney, Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology

Benjamin Wang: Effects of High Fat Diet Exposure on Chow Devaluation during Pregnancy and Lactation
Research mentor: Dr. Patrick Sweeney, Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology

School of MCB Research Presentation Honorable Mention

Anuprova Bhomik: Computational Pathology Analysis Links ESRP2 Dysregulation to Injury Patterns in MetALD
Research mentor: Dr. Auinash Kalsotra, Department of Biochemistry

Hayley Bosssard: Epigenetic factor Jarid2 contributes to corticotrope differentiation
Research mentor: Dr. Lori Raetzman, Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology

Murad Khamis: Linking Circadian Control to Murine Hepatic Chronotherpay
Research mentor: Dr. Auinash Kalsotra, Department of Biochemistry

Marko Ortiz: Small-Molecule Stabilization of 14-3-3 Interactions with YAP1/TAZ
Research mentor: Dr. Samy Meroueh, Department of Biochemistry
2023 Undergraduate Research Symposium

An enriching experience

Student reflections

"The experience was not only exciting but also deeply informative, allowing me to engage with the exemplary research conducted by outstanding minds in the MCB program, Mechanical Engineering, and Biochemistry, and Bioengineering departments. Over the course of the symposium, I had the distinct pleasure of presenting my research and gaining valuable insights into diverse fields. The intellectual exchange among the best undergraduate minds was truly enriching, fostering a collaborative atmosphere that transcended disciplinary boundaries... I find myself deeply motivated to continue contributing to the ever-evolving landscape of research."

Ishita Purwar, Junior in MCB and Engineering Physics

Previous Symposia

2024

The Fall 2024 symposium was held on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. 

2024 Winners

School of MCB Director’s Award for Exceptional Research Presentation

Ben Shapiro: Activity-Based Nitric Oxide-Responsive Porphyrin for Site-Selective and Nascent Cancer Ablation
Research mentor: Dr. Jefferson Chan, Department of Chemistry

Meghan McCann: Developing a Tool for Targeted, Ubiquitin-independent Protein Degradation
Research mentor: Dr. Kai Zhang, Department of Biochemistry

School of MCB Outstanding Research Presentation Award

 Angela Ho: Developing an In Vitro Toxicity Screening Model for the Progression of Spermatogenesis in Mice
 Research mentor: Dr. Huanyu (Joe) Qiao, Department of Comparative Biosciences

Kaela Maghinang: Investigating the Role of Immune Cells during Drosophila Wing Imaginal Disc Regeneration
Research mentor: Dr. Rachel Smith-Bolton, Department of Cell & Developmental Biology

School of MCB Research Presentation Honorable Mention

Devina Joshi: Chronic Exposure to DEHP and DiNP Alters Uterine Homeostasis and Integrity
Research mentor: Dr. Indrani Bagchi, Department of Comparative Biosciences

Aarav Pathak: Investigating the Role of Paraventricular Thalamus in Balancing Energy State and Food-Seeking Behavior
Research mentor: Dr. Patrick Sweeney, Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology

Jack Storm: The Role of Circadian Rhythms on Tight Junction Proteins of the Blood-Brain Interface  
Research mentor: Dr. Martha Gillette, Department of Cell & Developmental Biology

2023

The Fall 2023 symposium was held on Thursday, November 2, 2023.

2023 Winners

School of MCB Director’s Award for Exceptional Research Presentation

Leela Mouli, “Deconstructing the drivers of snaR-A noncoding RNA expression in cancer,” Dr. Kevin Van Bortle’s lab. Research supported by the 2023 School of MCB Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

School of MCB Outstanding Research Presentation Award

William Dai, “Characterization of PNN-associated cells in the mouse inferior colliculus,” Dr. Daniel Llano’s lab. Research supported by the 2023 Jenner Family Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

Lily Wenger, “Probing the Tumor Microenvironment via Bioluminescent Logic-Gate Technology,” Dr. Jefferson Chan's lab. Research supported by the 2023 School of MCB Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship and the Arnold and Mable Beckman Foundation.

Shivang Bhaskar, “Effect of Nucleolar Stress on the Localization of SNUL-1 ncRNA,” Dr. Kannanganattu Prasanth’s lab. Research supported by the 2023 Jenner Family Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

Aneek Mirza, “Interaction of Chromatin Remodelers with the Origin Recognition Complex,” Dr. Supriya Prasanth’s lab. Research supported by the 2023 Tom and Cynthia Cycyota Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

School of MCB Research Presentation Honorable Mention

Brendan Rattin, “PI(3,4,5)P3 is Necessary for ARHGEF39 Activation,” Dr. Jie Chen’s lab. Research supported by the 2023 School of MCB Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, sponsored in part by Dr. Keith Westcott.

Asta Simonovic, “Investigating the Mechanism of IgA Assembly in Avian Species,” Dr. Beth Stadtmueller’s lab. Research supported by the 2023 Spudich Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

Trisha Pal, “Associative Learning within Sea Urchins,” Dr. Rhanor Gillette’s lab. Research supported by the Gillette Lab.

Ishita Purwar, “TGF-ß Signaling Mediates downregulation of ESRP2 in Alcoholic liver Disease,” Dr. Auinash Kalsotra’s lab. Research supported by the 2023 School of MCB Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

Many thanks to our 2023 judges: Shruti Bendre, Hunter Cobbley, Gracious Donkor, Saika Hossain, Tongyu (Tony) Liu, Simón Lizarazo, Snigdha Mathure, Alison Neff, Shreyasi Neogi, Quang Nguyen, Teak-Jung (TJ) Oh, Sangeetha Ramesh, Xiangning Song, and Amber Wang. 

2022

2022 Winners

School of MCB Director's Award for Exceptional Research Presentation

Emma Ibanez, in Justin Rhodes' lab, with "Engineering the first transgenic clownfish for studying socially influenced sex change." This research was supported by a School of MCB Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

School of MCB Director's Award for Exceptional Research Presentation

Hunter Carrell, in Paul Hergenrother's lab, with "Derivatization of ErSO-TFPy, a Selective Killer of Estrogen Receptor Positive Breast Cancer." This research was supported by the School of MCB Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, supported in part by Frank Witney.

School of MCB Outstanding Research Presentation Award

Neha Ramachandran, in Milan Bachi’s lab, with "Analysis of the Role of Transcription Factor Runx1 in Uterine Angiogenesis." This research was supported by a Jenner Family Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

School of MCB Research Presentation Honorable Mention

Madeleine Meehan, in Marni Boppart's lab, with "Endurance trained extracellular vesicles as treatment to improve muscle recovery following disuse atrophy." This research was supported by a School of MCB Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

School of MCB Research Presentation Honorable Mention

Anastasiya Sushkova, in Anna Kukekova's lab, with "Bioinformatic Discovery of Haplotypes in Genomic Regions Differentiating Populations of Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes)."

2021

2021 Winners

Visit our 2021 virtual symposium website to see all presentations

School of MCB Director's Award for Exceptional Research Presentation

Neal Dadlani, in Sayee Anakk’s lab, with “Elucidating Farnesoid X Receptor (FXR) Mediated Adipose-Liver Crosstalk on Secondary Metabolic Effects in Liver.” His research was supported by a School of MCB Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

School of MCB Outstanding Research Presentation Award

Veronica Pronitcheva, in Justin Rhodes’ lab, with "Mutating Nemo: TOL-2 Mediated Generation of Transgenic Anemonefish, Amphiprion Ocellaris with GFP Constructs." Her research was supported by a Jenner Family Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

School of MCB Research Presentation Award

Niraj Lawande, in Catherine Christian-Hinman’s lab, with "Aromatase Expression Following Induction of Status Epilepticus Using Kainic Acid." His research was supported by a Jenner Family Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

2021 Judges

Rich Berkowitz, Chester Brown, Jie Chen, Aurora Cruz Torres, Luisa DiPietro, James Dolan, Eric Floyd, Jonathan Godbout, Aaron Godwin, Jack Ikeda, Michael Recny, Lauren Seaver, Keith Westcott, and Kai Zhang