UMBC’s STEM research spans from boosting math skills in biology to probing life’s origins on Earth.
Let’s see what UMBC has since we have last been on campus, as brought to you by UMBC News.
NIQB Improves Math Skills in Biology Students
Recently, UMBC has seen remarkable success in their endeavor to advance STEM research by enhancing quantitative skills in community college students majoring in biology through the NEXUS Institute for Quantitative Biology. This project is referred to as the NEXUS Institute for Quantitative Biology. NIQB hopes to ease the transition of community college students when they transfer to another higher education institute. The project began in 2018 and has shown great improvement in the desired skills by students. Hannah Pie at Howard Community College is delighted by the notable improvement in students’ math skills, translating to enhanced biology comprehension.
Click here to read more about the NIQB project.
Understanding Life on Earth
UMBC’s biological sciences professor Stephen Freeland secured a $1.8 million Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) grant. Freeland’s research objective: “What can we uncover about life’s fundamental biochemistry? Furthermore, his objective is to better understand the 20 amino acid protein sequence that makes up all living things on Earth. Then, he hopes we can apply this research to life on other planets. This summer, Freeland and members of his team worked at Klara Hlouchova’s lab in the Czech Republic to further their research.
Click here if you are interested in the details of Freeland’s work.
Enterovirus Research with Deepak Koirala
Assistant chemistry and biochemistry professor at UMBC, Deepak Koirala, is researching how enteroviruses “replicate their RNA genomes.” Understanding this process is imperative as “enteroviruses cause diseases like polio and the common cold, affecting both humans and animals.” Hopefully, with his research we can better understand how these viruses take host. Koirala’s end goal is to be able to improve antiviral treatments, but for now is focused on understanding the fundamentals.
Click here to read more about Koirala’s work.