Ten students presented their research projects at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology's Graduate Student Research Forum on February 8.  Raj K. Tiwari, Ph.D.,  standing far right, professor and graduate program director in the department,  Ira Schwartz, Ph.D.,  seated far left, professor and department chairman, joined the panel of judges, seated from left:  Abraham Mittelman, M.D.,  clinical associate professor of medicine and sponsor of the forum,  Alberto Nasjletti, M.D.,  professor and director of the Ph.D. program in pharmacology;  Jana Veliskova, M.D., Ph.D.,  professor of cell biology and anatomy, and obstetrics and gynecology. Read more about research forum.

Jaysen Zhang, an alumnus of the Summer Trainees in Academic Research (STAR) Program in the Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences, has been named a Regeneron Science Talent Search 2017 Scholar. The 17-year-old was recognized for his work, "A Cell Culture Model of Glutamine Addiction in Cancer via the c-Myc-Sirt5-Glutaminase Axis." The Regeneron Science Talent Search, a program of the Society for Science & the Public, recognizes and empowers the most promising young scientists in the U.S. who are creating ideas and solutions that solve the most urgent challenges. It is considered the nation's most prestigious pre-college science competition. As a STAR participant, Mr. Zhang worked with Joseph M. Wu, Ph.D., professor, vice chairman and M.S. program director in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Tze-chen Hsieh, research associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology on a project, "Resveratrol Derivatives as Novel Activators and Inhibitors of Sirtuin 5 (Sirt5)," earning him a slot as a 2015 semi-finalist in the Siemens Competition for Math, Science & Technology. Jaysen attends William A. Shine Great Neck South High School in Great Neck, N.Y.