UTEP Clinical Laboratory Science Students, Director Honored
Last Updated on April 09, 2018 at 1:45 PM
Originally published April 09, 2018
By UC Staff
UTEP Communications
A UTEP faculty member and two students in the Clinical Laboratory Science (CLS) program were recognized at the TACLS: Texas Association for Clinical Laboratory Science annual meeting March 22-24 in El Paso.
CLS Director Lorraine Torres, Ed.D, received the Omicron Sigma award for outstanding service. CLS seniors Claudia Huereca and Erick Rodriguez earned first place and third place awards, respectively, in the research poster presentation.
Huereca’s poster was based on research she conducted on parasites that cause gastrointestinal illness in humans found in drinking water in the greater metropolitan area of San Jose, Costa Rica. Huereca traveled to Costa Rica in 2017 as part of UTEP’s Minority Health International Research Training (MHIRT) program.
She previously earned outstanding poster presentation in the 2018 Undergraduate Student Competition at the Louisiana State University Shreveport Student Scholars Forum on March 2, 2018.
Huereca is a member of UTEP’s 21st Century Scholars and the Alpha Chi Honor Society.
She was accepted into the Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program (IPREP) at Indiana University-Purdue University. IPREP prepares recent college graduates who are students from underrepresented minority or disadvantaged populations for admission to graduate programs in the biomedical and behavioral sciences.
Rodriguez will graduate cum laude from the CLS program in May 2018. His research poster was on the presence of enteric viruses in surface water after water has undergone the treatment processes in San Jose, Costa Rica. Rodriguez traveled to the Instituto de Investigaciones en Salud (INISA) at the University of Costa Rica as part of the MHIRT program in 2017.
TACLS is the state meeting of the American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS). These gatherings provide scientific and technical continuing education sessions, as well as networking opportunities with local and regional colleagues.