2009 Sidney Udenfriend Prize
This year two students were awarded the Sidney Udenfriend Prize.
Amanda Driesse, C'09. Research - Testing the Bioremedial Potential of Fungi Isolated after Hurricane Katrina.
Kimy Yeung, C'09. Reasearch - The Antimicrobial Resistance Crisis: The Search for Novel Compounds to Combat "Bad Bugs".
Previous Recipients
2008 - No prize awarded
2007 - Kellie Joyce and Doria Tsatsos
2006 - Daniel Riccio
2005 - Elena Tartaglia
2004 - Anthony Miller
2003 - Lauren Campbell
2002 - Katherine Fish
2001 - Carmen Drahl
RISE students work with their mentors throughout the school year, with an ongoing, part-time agenda that fits their academic schedules. Participants typically receive course credit for their RISE research.
More than half of the students who have been involved in the program have written theses on their work, leading to graduation with honors. Virtually all have gone on to graduate or professional schools.
Drew students who wish to pursue a research project with a Dana fellow do so with the concurrence and encouragement of their department chairs.
Areas of research include biochemistry, microbiology, parasitology, pharmacology, polymer chemistry, physical chemistry mathematical physics, and the design of experiments. Examples of recent topics explored by students include the chemotherapy of parasitic infections, the synthesis of compounds for inhibiting the craving for cocaine, the physical chemistry of lipid absorption, the use of microorganisms to degrade hazardous wastes, and studies of nuclear scattering.
Students find that their research is excellent preparation for the rigors of graduate school or medical school. Leith Dwyer, a recent graduate and now a Ph.D. candidate in physics at the University of Michigan commented, "My experience at Drew was ten times better because of my participation in the RISE program."
The RISE program is open to all qualified science majors. Participation, which normally begins in the upperclass years, is arranged with the encouragement and approval of faculty advisors.
For additional information, contact Miriam Donohue at 973-408-3180 or at mdonohue@drew.edu.
