Posted: April 6, 2021
Maria Isabel da Silva
Two graduate students in Penn State's Department of Animal Science were recognized for their work at the University-wide 26th Annual Graduate Exhibition held March 24-26, 2021.
Maria Isabel da Silva captured first place in the Health and Life Sciences division with her presentation "Expression of immune tolerance molecules in peripheral blood leukocytes of dairy heifers during early pregnancy." Isabel is a Ph.D. candidate in the Integrative and Biomedical Physiology graduate program, and a fellow on the Physiological Adaptations to Stress NIH T32 training grant. She is advised by Troy Ott, Ph.D., professor of reproductive physiology and associate director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. She serves as president of the Huck Graduate Student Advisory Committee in the Huck Institutes.
Chandlar Kern placed third in the same division with her presentation on "Role of the bovine PRAMEY protein in sperm function during in vitro fertilization (IVF)." Chandlar is a Ph.D. candidate in the Animal Science graduate program advised by Wansheng Liu, Ph.D., professor of animal genomics.
Dr. Adele Turzillo, Head of Animal Science, said, "I am delighted that Isabel and Chandlar were recognized for their work at the 2021 Graduate Exhibition. The Graduate Exhibition promotes interdisciplinarity and collaboration across the breadth of Penn States' graduate programs, and it is an outstanding accomplishment to have their work recognized in in this forum."
More than 200 graduate students registered for the 2021 Graduate Exhibition, which included 156 graduate student participants in the research presentation option, 13 in the visual arts option, 11 in the performance option, 22 in the video option and nine in the design options. Forty-three graduate students received awards for their research and creative scholarship.
First place winners receive $500; second place winners receive $250; third place winners receive $100.
