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Presenting their research were Federica Bertolotti ’24, senior thesis in BMB and neuroscience; Sebastian Gacek ’25, junior research in neuroscience; and Ama Owusu-Ofori ’24, senior thesis in neuroscience. Kateryna Malkina ’24, a BMB and data science double major, also attended the conference.

Bertolotti received an Honorable Mention in the competition from among nearly 300 presenters representing top BMB undergraduate students across the country—their largest competition ever. 

This is the fifth time in 23 years that a Forester has received either First Prize (Nijee Sharma Luthra ’04, Michel Fiske ’10, Laurel Robbins ’23) or Honorable Mention (Carris Borland ’22, Fede Bertolotti ’24) at this competition. “That is a remarkable record of recognition at such a scientific venue for any small college like ours,” said Disque D. and Carol Gram Deane Professor of Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Neuroscience Shubhik DebBurman. “I have served a judge for this competition on multiple past occasions, and the quality of research by presenting undergraduates is always truly superior and the competition is intense.”

Bertolotti and Malkina were also among only 31 students elected from a national pool of BMB majors to the 2024 National BMB Honor Society (ΧΩΛ).

“Most disciplinary academic honor societies select undergraduate members at their local institutional chapter level, but ASBMB does not do that. All prospective student applicants must apply directly to the national society and only a select number are chosen nationally. This is a prestigious distinction given to exceptional undergraduate juniors and seniors pursuing degrees in the molecular life sciences at colleges or universities with ASBMB Student Chapters. Students are recognized for their scholarly achievement, research accomplishments and outreach activities,” DebBurman said.

Bertolotti is headed for PhD studies in neuroscience at the University of Chicago, while Malkina will pursue PhD studies in molecular biosciences at University of California-Santa Barbara.

In addition, Bertolotti received a 2023 ASBMB Undergraduate Research Award and 2024 Undergraduate Research Travel Grant Award as well to present at the conference.

Bertolotti and Gacek both conducted research in DebBurman’s lab at Lake Forest College. Malkina and Owusu-Ofori conducted their research at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science with medical school professors Rahul Vijay (Department of Microbiology and Immunology) and Eunjung Hwang (Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy), respectively. 

Bertolotti, Gacek and Owusu-Ofori presented their research twice—at the 28th annual undergraduate research competition and at the main meeting’s poster sessions.

“Presenting my research not once, but twice, at the ASBMB national professional conference in 2024 was an incredible experience for me,” Bertoletti said. “It meant validation and recognition of the hard work, dedication, and innovation that went into my senior thesis research that I conducted for the last year and a half. Each presentation allowed me to refine my skills as a presenter, receive invaluable feedback about my research, and forge meaningful connections with peers and mentors.”

Owusu-Ofori felt honored to present her research and found the opportunity to network with BMB professionals to be an eye-opening experience.

“I’ve been doing work in the lab work for two years now and have been able to produce results that are shareable with the scientific communmity, which was such an honor,” she said. “I interacted with so people in the BMB field who are doing different things—working in industry, doing research in research labs, professors, and so many more career opportunities that I didn't think were available. Seeing that kind of broke my horizon on thinking that there is only the traditional path of going for PhD and maybe becoming a PI in the end. There are so many ways I can move the trajectory of my career.”

Owusu-Ofori plans to take two gap years and work as a research tech then enter a PhD program.