NSF Fellowship Award and Honorable Mention

Two UofM students were recognized by the NSF for their outstanding contributions to scientific research

  Alexandra Snyder has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship centered on her own experience with and research focused on hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS). Alexandra’s personal experience with hEDS led her to utilize her love of medicine to make a difference in the hEDS community. She met Dr. Gary Bowlin, Chair of Excellence and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Memphis, in the fall of 2022 and realized that her dream of studying hEDS was not out of reach.   Alexandra’s research focuses on the use of Manuka honey to reduce inflammation mediated by neutrophils. She is currently exploring the use of Manuka honey and Manuka honey incorporated near-field electrospun (NFES) bioresorbable tissue templates as a drug delivery system using polydioxanone (PDO), a biodegradable synthetic polymer that degrades over a 6-8 month period, aligning with the duration of wound healing. Manuka honey has been used to treat chronic wounds in patients with classical type EDS. Her innovative work is an example of translational science that has the potential to significantly impact on human health and addres the burdens of EDS. The pictures below show Alexandra performing research in her lab and setting up the apparatus to fabricate the Manuka honey incorporated NFES tissue templates that she is developing.     Rebecca Davis has received a honorable mention designation for the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Rebecca performs research under the guidance of Matthew Parris, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Memphis, as well as in collaboration with the Memphis Zoo’s Department of Conservation and Research. Her research centers on ethical approaches to the conservation of endangered Louisiana pine snakes with a focus on temperature influences on pine snake reproductive cycles. Her research on reproduction of this endangered species is concentrated on brumation - a period of overwinter dormancy that many reptiles undergo annually, yet its physiological and fitness consequences remain poorly understood. As reptiles are ectothermic (i.e., cold-blooded), their physiology is heavily dependent upon environmental cues, one of the most important of which is temperature. Her pioneering of minimally invasive techniques will generate fundamental discoveries on the physiological impacts of a changing climate not only for this endangered species, but reptiles more broadly.   In addition to her research, Rebecca also participates in a number of educational outreach programs. She has a pet Tegu lizard named Tami (picture below) that she brings along to teach youth about herpetology (the scientific / zoological study of reptiles and amphibians).     The University of Memphis is proud to highlight these outstanding students and their impactful research.   If you have any questions about the NSF GRFP program or the research being carried out by our students, reach out to the University of Memphis’s NSF GRFP coordinator, Dr. Brian Evans, at bevans8@memphis.edu.