News & Announcements

CABRI Awards $40,000 in Fellowships to Ten Undergraduate Researchers

Press Release from 2022-12-12


ANN ARBOR, MI, DECEMBER 2, 2022Cayman joins the Cayman Biomedical Research Institute (CABRI) in recognizing the ten undergraduate students who have been awarded fellowships by CABRI for the 2022-2023 academic year. The fellowship awards are given to talented undergraduates that are pursuing a research project of their own under the guidance of a faculty mentor.

Undergraduate fellowships are awarded by CABRI on a competitive basis each year to students who have been offered an unpaid research position. “These fellowships provide a valuable opportunity to undergraduates by allowing them to focus on gaining laboratory experience that builds their scientific talent,” said Kourtney Goode, Ph.D., Academic Relations Coordinator at Cayman.

CABRI funds expanded opportunities for emerging scientists and awards research grants to academic scientists that address basic science research objectives with the highest unmet needs. More information about CABRI’s undergraduate fellowships, scholarships, and research funding opportunities is available on the CABRI website.


The 2022 Recipients Are: 

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Addison Thompson 
Washington State University 
Mentor: Ryan McLaughlin 
Project: Using Rodent Models to Interrogate Effects of Cannabis Use During Pregnancy on the Postpartum Phenotype


Branwen Jorenby 
Augsburg University 
Mentor: Matthew Beckman 
Project: Developing a CRISPR Design to Disrupt Hedgehog in Drosophila melanogaster


Caitlyn Bartsch 
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale 
Mentor: Jacob Nordman 
Project: Synaptogenesis and Early Life Stress-Induced Aggression (ELSIA)


Christopher Polera 
University of Central Florida 
Mentor: Otto Phanstiel 
Project: Reprogramming Pancreatic Tumors via FUBP1 Inhibition


Jeremy Nelson 
University of Michigan 
Mentor: Kenneth Kwan 
Project: Cortical Alterations Following Deletion of Wiedemann-Steiner Syndrome Gene Kmt2a


Laura Clark 
Virginia Commonwealth University 
Mentor: Santiago Lima 
Project: Role of Glycosphingolipids in Cell Migration and Invasion in Cancer


McKenna Spencer 
Washington State University 
Mentor: Ryan McLaughlin 
Project: Cannabis Use in Females: Influence of Ovarian Hormones on Cannabis Vapor Self-Administration in Female Rats


Roman Voskoboynikov 
Pennsylvania State University, Berks Campus  
Mentor: Justin DiAngelo 
Project: The Regulation of Lipid Transport and Metabolism by the Splicing Factor Glorund in the Drosophila Intestine


Stevie Rieger 
Case Western Reserve University 
Mentor: John Letterio 
Project: Targeting Cathepsin B to Overcome Radiation Resistance in DIPG


Victoria Glass 
University of South Carolina School of Medicine 
Mentor: Claudia Grillo 
Project: Identification of Hypothalamic Neurons Involved in a Novel Circuit that Regulates Feeding Behavior



About Cayman Chemical 
Cayman Chemical Company helps make research possible by supplying scientists worldwide with biochemical tools used to understand cancer, neurochemistry, oxidative injury, endocrinology, atherosclerosis, and other human health challenges. Our scientists are experts in the synthesis, purification, and characterization of biochemicals ranging from small drug-like heterocycles to complex biolipids, fatty acids, and many others for use as research reagents and qualified standards. We are also highly skilled in all aspects of assay and antibody development, protein expression, crystallization, and structure determination. In addition, Cayman Contract Services provides discovery and preclinical development services to the global pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and academic research markets. Our diverse suite of services leverages a team of over 150 highly skilled scientists with expertise in medicinal chemistry, structure-based drug design, complex multi-step organic synthesis, analytical chemistry, sample analysis, and custom assay development. Cayman performs generic drug development and production in both Ann Arbor, Michigan and Neratovice, Czech Republic. 

About CABRI 
Cayman Biomedical Research Institute (CABRI) is a nonprofit organization which supports research on the rare illnesses and orphan diseases that are often neglected by the corporate pharmaceutical industry and actively pursues new developments that will treat these diseases. To support this endeavor, we offer research grants to specific principal investigators at academic research institutions who have a plan to extend the clinical or preclinical development for these diseases as well as undergraduate grants to assist students to obtain experience in laboratories while performing research that aligns with CABRI’s mission. CABRI also provides scholarships to college-bound students who have lost a parent to SNUC (sinonasal undifferentiated carcinoma) or B cell lymphoma.