Three biophysics undergraduate students were chosen for the 2022 Provost’s Undergraduate Research Awards (PURA) by The Hopkins Office for Undergraduate Research. The program was created to support and encourage Hopkins undergraduate students to engage in independent research, scholarly and creative projects. Each student receives $3,000 to support their research.

Harshit Bhasin, 2022, Biophysics Major

• Project: “Assessing efficacy of Mitochondrial fission inhibitor Mdivi-1 as a therapeutic agent for Anorexia Nervosa in the Activity-Based Anorexia Model” 
• Mentored by: Dr. Kellie Tamashiro, Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Dr. Matthew Hurley, Research Fellow, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Yuekang Zhang, 2022, Biophysics Major

• Project: “Characterizing conformational change of NaV1.5/1.4 bound Calmodulin with molecular dynamics” 
• Mentored by: Dr. Sandra Gabelli, Associate Professor, Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry and Mayukh Chakrabarti, PhD Candidate, Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry

Hantian “Maggie” Lee, 2023, Molecular & Cellular Biology and Biophysics double major

• Project: “The Role of C-terminal Domain Cooperativity and Mobility in  RNA Chaperone Hfq Binding Activity” 
• Mentored by: Dr. Sarah Woodson, Professor, Biophysics and Dr. Ana Damjanovic, Assistant Research Professor, Biophysics