MiNER Lab Recognized at Texas ACSM Conference
The Metabolic, Nutrition and Exercise Research (MiNER) Laboratory, Department of Kinesiology, is on a roll! For the third year in a row, the MiNER lab, directed by Dr. Sudip Bajpeyi, sent a group of students to the Texas Chapter of American College of Sports Medicine (TACSM) Conference in Fort Worth, Texas to present their research.
Jasmin Jenkins, a second-year student in the Master of Science in Kinesiology program received the Student Research and Development Award. Jenkins competed against students from other R1 institutions across Texas, including Texas A&M, Baylor and UT Austin etc. for the award.
“This was my first time presenting at a conference and it was a great experience to share my research with others and learn about things other professionals in my field are doing. Attending TACSM has allowed me the opportunity to see other directions research would be able to take me and how seeing different perspectives makes for a better researcher,” Jenkins said.
Michelle Galvan, also a second-year student in the MS in Kinesiology program, and Isaac Gandara, a biology major and a BUILD Scholar, were among the finalists to present their research at the conference.
“I was provided the opportunity to showcase my project at this year’s annual TACSM meeting. I put in a lot of effort and I am glad that I was able to share it with others in the field. As a biology major in a health science laboratory, I am able to provide a more cellular perspective both in the MiNER lab and at TACSM. Furthermore, BUILD pushes us to go out and present our hard work, so they provided me with the BUILDing Scholars Travel Award so I could focus on preparing for the conference,” said Gandara.
“Texas ACSM gave me the opportunity to show the hard work, time, and dedication put into the research by everyone in the MiNER lab. It was also a great experience speaking with faculty and students from other colleges including last year’s first place winner from our laboratory. It is because of this experience and the collaborations in the lab that I will be able to continue improving and completing the research study for my thesis project,” said Galvan.
Additionally, Mario Garcia, Manuel Gomez, and Victoria Rosas presented their research at this conference as first authors.
Dr. Bajpeyi’s research team focuses on understanding the metabolic defects that occur with obesity and type 2 diabetes, and seeks prevention and cures of such defects with nutrition and exercise interventions using both clinical and basic science research approaches.
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