Oct. 26, 2009

From left: Quinnipiac students Jillian Giguere, Joanne Jankowski, Jodi-Ann Gordon, Christine Podolski and Kristen Corinaldesi.

Students working under the tutelage of Lisa Cuchara, associate professor of biomedical sciences in the School of Health Sciences, presented their research at the 44th Annual Region I meeting of the American Society for Microbiology held Oct. 22-23 in Cromwell, Conn.

The Quinnipiac students' MRSA research project, "Demographics and Epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA Colonization in Healthy Individuals," was recognized as one of the top four projects and was rewarded with an award certificate and a cash prize.

The research team included: Jillian Giguere, Jodi-Ann Gordon, and Christine Podolski, all graduate students in biomedical science; Kaitlyn Vennard, an undergraduate student in biomedical science; and Kristen Corinaldesi and Joanne Jankowski, two undergraduate biology students.

Student posters were judged by Nick Mantis of the New York State Department of Health and Samuel Behar of Brigham & Women's Hospital.

Students presenting research at the meeting received a student membership to the ASM as well as a banquet ticket for the dinner, which featured Derek Lovley from the University of Massachusetts. Lovley discussed "The Microbe Electric: A Systems Approach to Understanding and Optimizing Microbe-Electrode Interactions and their Applications."