READING, Pa. — Niahz Wince, a senior majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State Berks, received top honors at the Genetics Society of America’s (GSA) poster awards presentation at the Allied Genetics Conference in Orlando, Florida, in July.
Wince received the 1st Place Undergraduate Poster Award for his presentation, titled "Mondo/dChREBP functions in the Drosophila intestine to regulate nutrient storage," at the 57th Annual Drosophila Research Conference, one of the research communities that met at the conference.
“My research focuses on understanding how the intestine recognizes the presence of nutrients and regulates the long-term storage of those nutrients, using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model system,” explains Wince. "I really enjoyed presenting this research at the International Allied Genetics Conference. I believe that that environment complimented my outgoing personality and fostered my ability to effectively communicate my science. I was proud to represent Penn State Berks.”
Justin DiAngelo, assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and Wince’s research mentor, adds, “Niahz is a very independent researcher – after designing his experiments in collaboration with me, he performs all of the experiments himself and performs much of his data analysis on his own. Niahz has excellent scientific communication skills, as evidenced by receiving this Poster Presentation Award.”
The mission of the Genetics Society of America is to deepen the understanding of the living world by advancing the field of genetics. A cornerstone of this mission is promoting interaction among geneticists. To foster such connections and collaborations across the field, the GSA brought together seven research communities for the Allied Genetics Conference.