Research

First place ($1,200 prize): Onisha Thapa, second-year doctoral student in Chemistry, with advisor Gary Lorigan, University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, for her presentation “Study of Structural Dynamics and Topology of the TatE Peptide in a Lipid Bilayer.” Thapa, an international student from Nepal, conducts research on membrane proteins and their structural topology, using various biophysical techniques to understand protein-membrane interactions and conformational dynamics. She will compete in the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Three Minute Thesis competition in Kansas City, March 2026. Thapa also won the People's Choice award ($500 prize). 

Second place ($950 prize): Dustyn Weber, MS ’23; second-year doctoral student in Chemistry, with advisor: Cory Rusinek, assistant professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, for Detection and Quantification of Manganese in Pretreated Samples by Electrochemistry.

Third place ($600 prize):  Anastasiia Evstifeeva, fifth-year doctoral student in Chemistry, with advisor Rick Page, associate vice president for research and innovation and professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, for her presentation “Understanding How NDM Enzymes Defeat Antibiotics.”