Chagrin Falls resident Wins Undergraduate Research Fellowship

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Kimbria Blake

ROCHESTER, NY (10/04/2012)(readMedia)-- Chagrin Falls resident Kimbria Blake, a junior majoring in biochemistry at Rochester Institute of Technology, has been named a recipient of the American Society for Microbiology Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

This fellowship, awarded to 56 undergraduates out of 122 applicants, includes a $4,000 stipend, a two-year student membership to the American Society for Microbiology, and funding for travel expenses to the society's meeting.

Blake plans to pursue a doctorate in microbiology or biochemistry and envisions a research career in infectious disease.

"Winning this award gave me the opportunity to advance my undergraduate research career and renew my passion for my research project," she says. "Through this award I spent 10 weeks devoted to my research and in turn found that I had the ability to plan experiments, answer questions and propose new ideas. This newly found confidence and independence further cemented my goal to obtain a Ph.D."

The fellowship supported Blake's research during the summer on PHO13 from Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, which she continues to explore with her mentor, Suzanne O'Handley, associate professor of chemistry at RIT.

"I am working on characterizing and determining what a certain protein (PHO13) does in Baker's yeast," Blake says. "In S. aureus (the bacterium that causes staph infections, MRSA, etc.), there is a similar protein (to the PHO13 in yeast) that has been found to promote infection. Through figuring out what PHO13 does in yeast, this research can then be applied to the protein in S. aureus, a potential novel antibiotic target, to discover new medicines for the treatment of staph infections."

Blake is the recipient of several awards. In the spring, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program made her a Goldwater Scholar. Her other honors and awards include an RIT Presidential Scholarship, freshman and sophomore awards from the RIT Department of Chemistry, College of Science Summer Research Fellowship, a College of Science Chemistry/Materials Science Research Fellowship and an American Society of Microbiology Summer Research Fellowship.

Blake is a member of the RIT Honors Program and is an RIT Chemistry Research Scholar

She is a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Student Affiliates and the RIT InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She is also a tutor and teaching assistant for the chemistry department.

The American Society for Microbiology, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the oldest and largest single biological membership organization, with more than 40,000 members worldwide. Go to http://www.asm.org/students for more information on this fellowship.

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