Summer 2026 Travel Award Recipients

Bell Travel Awards

CJ Gormly (Lundquist Lab) attended the 2026 joint meeting between C. elegans Metabolism, Aging, Pathogenesis, Stress and Small RNAs and C. elegans Development Cell Biology & Gene Expression that was held June 10-14, 2026, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison  in Madison, WI.  She gave an oral presentation titled “A novel non-apoptotic role of core programmed cell death pathway components to inhibit anterior QL.a and QL.p migration downstream of MAB-5/Hox.”  Gormly said “It was an honor to receive the MB Travel award. I had the privilege of presenting my work on the non-apoptotic roles of the programmed cell death pathway on neuroblast migration at the MAPSS & Developmental and Cell Biology joint C. elegans meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. It was an invaluable experience to discuss my work and possible collaborations with so many members of the C. elegans community. The experience was especially meaningful for my career development because it strengthened my confidence as a scientist. It sparked new ideas for my current project and helped me think more deeply about the future directions that I may be interested in exploring after graduate school.“

Pradtahna (Elle) Saenjamsai (Fehr Lab) presented a poster titled “SARS-CoV-2 ΔMac1 induces robust cellular and humoral immunity with complete protection against both homologous and heterologous SARS-CoV-2 variants” at  the XVII International Nidovirus Symposium held from June 24 -27, 2026 at The University of Hong Kong.  Saenjamsai said“As a graduate student studying SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development, the conference allowed me to engage with leading coronavirus experts, exchange ideas with researchers from around the world, and gain valuable insights into emerging challenges related to future endemic and pandemic threats, pandemic preparedness and vaccine research. This experience broadened my professional network, strengthened my scientific communication skills, and introduced new concepts and approaches that will directly benefit my ongoing research and future career development. I sincerely appreciate the support that made this valuable professional development opportunity possible.”

Rayssa Teixeira (Ferreira Lab) gave an oral presentation titled “Cutibacterium acnes inhibits Staphylococcus lugdunensis biofilm formation through inhibition of autolysis and purine biosynthesis”  at the Anaerobe 2026 Congress held July 7-10, 2026, at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City.  Teixeira said “Speaking at this conference was an incredible opportunity.  I was able to present the results of my work, engage in productive discussions, and receive feedback and ideas from other scientists.  I am grateful to have been selected to receive this travel award." 

Koonse Travel Awards

Bren Ng (Ferreira Lab) presented a poster titled “United We Stand: Uncovering The Interactions Between Cutibacterium acnes and Staphylococcus lugdunensis in dual-species biofilms.”  at the Anaerobe 2026 Congress held July 7-10, 2026, at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City.  Ng said “At the conference, I was able to gain valuable insight from other researchers that came to see my poster, and they gave me excellent ideas and questions that did not cross my mind. I was also exposed to research from many areas of biology that I have less experience with, and it gave me great insight on the variety of research out there that I can further explore." 

Zach Opeka (Graham Lab) gave a flash talk entitled  “Characterizing HIF-pathway Alterations Across Two Early Diverging Metazoan Lineages.”  at the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution conference held June 28 to July 2, 2026, in Copenhagen, Denmark.  Opeka said “As a graduate student early my scientific career, the experiences I had at this conference were meaningful and inspiring. I was able to meet other graduate students and principal investigators across the globe to discuss both my research and others. Communicating my research to others boosted my confidence in my own scientific communication skills. I am grateful for the support this award has provided."