From exploring ethical considerations of AI to decoding the genetic mysteries of Alzheimer’s disease, Iowa State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) students have been hard at work in the 2025-26 academic year. Twenty-three undergraduate students in LAS received the LAS Dean’s High Impact Award for Undergraduate Research during the fall 2025 semester. As funded researchers, students worked alongside faculty mentors from across the university to drive forward real-world research in diverse academic disciplines.
Students working alongside Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology faculty include:
- Caelen Camplain (’26 bioinformatics and computational biology)
Mentored by Hua Bai, associate professor of genetics, development, and cell biology - Veronika Hokrova (’26 biology)
Mentored by Don Sakaguchi, Morrill Professor of genetics, development, and cell biology - Jessica Johnson (’26 biology)
Mentored by Ping Kang, adjunct assistant professor of genetics, development, and cell biology - Owen Kennedy (’27 bioinformatics and computational biology)
Mentored by Dior Kelley, associate professor of genetics, development, and cell biology - Marie Claire Ndefua (’27 biology)
Mentored by Ping Kang, adjunct assistant professor of genetics, development, and cell biology - Shea Sopher (’26 biology)
Mentored by Don Sakaguchi, Morrill Professor of genetics, development, and cell biology - Hannah Soucek (’26 genetics)
Mentored by Ping Kang, adjunct assistant professor of genetics, development, and cell biology - Ushashi Battacharjee (’26 bioinformatics and computational biology)
Mentored by Dior Kelley, associate professor of genetics, development, and cell biology
More information on the students who received the LAS Dean's High Impact Award for Undergraduate Research in fall 2025 is available in the LAS News article, "Discovery and curiosity come together in undergraduate research."