Four genetics, development and cell biology (GDCB) students received Sui-Tong Chan Fung Fund Travel awards in fall 2020 and spring 2021. The recipients are Mark Bouska, Emmanuel Nsamba, Pallavi Sinha-Roy and Vaishali Todi.

The Fung award recognizes excellence in the pursuit of genetics research and study. It is made possible because of the generosity of Mr. Hon Pon Fung, who in 1981 established an endowment at Iowa State University in memory of his wife, Dr. Sui-Tong Chan Fung. Mrs. Fung loved genetics and worked for many years in the laboratory of Dr. William Welshons of the Department of Genetics.

Bouska, who is the recipient of the spring 2021 award, attended the American Aging Association - 49th Annual Meeting Metabolism of Aging July 20-23 in Madison, Wis. The title of his poster is “LOXL2 is a mediator of cardiac aging in Drosophila melanogaster.” Bouska is a member of GDCB Assistant Professor Hua Bai’s lab.

Nsamba, Sinha-Roy and Todi are the fall 2020 award recipients who presented posters at the Dec. 2-16, 2020, Cell Bio Virtual 2020/An online ASCB/EMBO meeting. Nsamba's poster title is “Tubulin isotypes play specialized roles for efficient spindle positioning during yeast mitosis.” “Distinct tubulin mutations cause similar neurological diseases by inhibiting or hyper-activating Kinesin activity”  is the title of Sinha-Roy's poster, and “Role of microtubule generated tension in accurate chromosome segregation” is the title of Todi's poster. The students are members of GDCB Associate Professor Mohan Gupta’s lab.