Two undergraduate students mentored by Daniel Zegarra-Ruiz, PhD, Iana Niknezhad and Aditi Shanbhag, received funding for summer research this week. Zegarra-Ruiz is an Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer Biology and Resident Member of the CIC. His team studies the connections between diet, gut microbiome, and autoimmune diseases, like lupus.
Iana received an Ingrassia Family Research Grant for Echols Scholars and the Harrison Undergraduate Research Award for her project “Dietary Contributions to Lupus Pathogenesis.” Aditi received a Harrison Undergraduate Research Award for her project “The Role of Gut Inflammation in a TLR7-Dependent Mouse Model of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.” These awards will provide stipends and supplies for research over this coming summer.