University of the Sciences’ biology student Linda Tran, class of 2014, has received the Melvin Firman summer research grant dedicated to students in the biological sciences who wish to conduct research with a faculty member.
Tran’s research studies the function of a specific protein in a plant called Arabidopsis thaliana, also known as mouse-ear cress. She will perform molecular and physiological tests to examine the protein during drought.
Melvin Firman, a graduate of USciences’ bacteriology program in 1940, holds the patent for the synthesis of tetracycline and bequeathed money to the biological sciences department to establish three undergraduate summer research grants.