Congratulations to the 2017 Research Like a Champion program winners. This was the most successful year for the program with the highest number of applicants and the most innovative projects. We are excited to announce the awardees:
First Round Winners
Student: Lord Boachie
Project Title: Construction of Patient-Specific, Living Breast Cancer Tumors to Examine Chemotherapy Treatments
Mentor: Matthew Leevy, Director of Biological Imaging
Students: Vince Kitsmiller and Roy Stillwell
Project Title: Handheld Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy Device for Breast Cancer Risk Assessment and Differential Diagnosis
Mentor: Thomas D. O’Sullivan, Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering
Students: Marwa Asem and Carlysa Oyama
Project Title: Tunneling Nanotubes in Cancer: When Your Healthy Cells Betray Your Body
Mentor: M. Sharon Stack, Ann F. Dunne and Elizabeth Riley Director of Harper Cancer Research Institute
Students: Kristen Johnson and Jessica Lukowski
Project Title: A Lipid Chemotherapeutic Delivery System
Mentors: Robert Stahelin, Navari Family Scholar and Showalter Scholar at IUSM; Amanada Hummon, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Student: Luke Maillie
Project Title: Using Complex Network Analysis to Elucidate and Design Improved Referral and Treatment Networks for Cancer Patients in Northwestern Tanzania
Mentors: Abigail Mechtenberg Assistant Teaching Professor of Physics, Notre Dame; Kristin Schroeder, Director of ICCARE, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Duke Medical School; Bwire Chirangi, Chief Medical Officer, Shirati Hospital, Tanzania; Sara Sievers, Associate Dean, Keough School of Global Affairs, Notre Dame
Students: Sawyer Williams, Matthew Yoder, and Sydney Sivertson
Project Title: Gaining Insights in the Fight Against Cancer by Double and Triple Teaming: A Horizontal Approach to Identify Key Gene Expression Signatures
Mentor: Amy Stark, Director of the DNA Learning Center
Second Round Winner
Student: Amanda Yamasaki
Project Title: Molecular Profiling to Derive Functional Hematopietic Stem Cells In Vitro
Mentor: Athanasia Panopoulos, Elizabeth and Michael Gallagher Family Assistant Professor of Adult Stem Cell Research
Originally published by at harpercancer.nd.edu on April 25, 2017.