Destiny FitzGerald '23 received the John C. Johnson Award at the Regional Northeast District 3 TriBeta Research Conference, held at St. John Fisher University in Rochester, N.Y., on Saturday, April 1.

TriBeta is a national biology honor society that promotes undergraduate research. The John C. Johnson Award is given to recognize the best research poster presentation at each regional meeting. FitzGerald's poster was titled "C. elegans, a Model System for Studying Autism and Preliminary Characterization of SHN-1" and was based on research performed this past June, during the Obler Summer Research Program, and throughout the academic year.

C. elegans is a small soil nematode that is used to study various topics in biology, and FitzGerald's work has involved using this system to study the function of autism associated genes in non-neuronal tissues. This project was performed with guidance from her research advisor, Dr. Abbi Paulson. FitzGerald is graduating this June and plans to pursue a career in dentistry.

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