Schuster Award furthers student’s research career

In her time at UConn, Jennifer VanOudenhove, CLAS ’09, found immense pleasure in learning and immersing herself in the sciences. Not only did her passion help her to excel as a University Scholar but it also helped her to win the Todd M. Schuster Award with a $2500 stipend in the summer of 2008.

The Todd M. Schuster Award in Molecular and Cell Biology was created in honor of Todd Schuster, a professor emeritus of biochemistry and biophysics. Schuster, who died in November 2000 at the age of 67. He joined the UConn faculty in 1970 and was the founding director of the Biotechnology Center at UConn.

The award provides a stipend for an undergraduate student enrolled in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology in CLAS. VanOudenhove, who graduated last May with a BS degree in Molecular and Cell Biology and Chemical Engineering, used her stipend toward her research on a protein called PKR.

PKR is a protein that is a critical part of the innate immunity system that functions to block viral infections. In her lab at UConn, VanOudenhove, who worked with MCB Prof. James Cole, used a method called small angle X-ray scattering to define the overall structure of PKR. This research will provide the basis to develop new drugs to combat the viruses that causes disease such as Hepatitis C and AIDS.

Last fall VanOudenhove was selected as a finalist to present her research on PKR in an undergraduate research competition in biophysics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Massachusetts.

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