Baylor URSA Researcher Wins Best Presentation Award at Regional Biochemistry Meeting

Contact: Whitney Richter, Director of Marketing and Communications, Office of the Vice Provost for Research, 254-710-7539
Written by: Gary Stokes, Office of the Vice Provost for Research

WACO, Texas (Nov. 29, 2018) – Baylor junior Emily Ziperman was named Poster Contest Winner for her research poster presentation at A Summer of Research: An Undergraduate Symposium held September 29th on the University of Texas—Dallas campus. The event was hosted by the UTD Biochemistry Association, a chapter of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. The award includes a $500 travel stipend for Ziperman to attend the ASBMB annual meeting in Orlando, Florida, next April.

A native of Coppell, Texas, Ziperman is an American Chemical Society chemistry major, with a biochemistry option. Her research project, Comparing Carbohydrate Structures Modeled with Density Functional Theory to Experimentally Measured Conformations, is supported by a grant from Baylor’s Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Achievement (URSA) program. Dr. Elyssia Gallagher is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and heads the research group where Ziperman conducted her research.

“It has been wonderful to have Emily Ziperman in my research group,” Gallagher said. “She is an enthusiastic student with a drive to learn.” In addition to her URSA-funded research, Ziperman is president of the Baylor Undergraduate Research in Science and Technology (BURST) program. She is excited about the opportunity to apply to present her research at the national meeting.

“I will submit an abstract and go to the national meeting if it’s accepted,” she said. “I will present on the same project, but hope to expand the results since my URSA grant continues through next May and I will still be working on the project.”

After earning her Bachelor of Science degree from Baylor, Ziperman plans to enroll in graduate school to pursue a PhD in biophysical chemistry.