Fourth-year biochemistry and molecular biology student, Eva Shyong Quin Yap, was pleasantly surprised to be awarded first prize for her talk “Effect of Nitrosative Stress on the Expression Levels of Flavohemoglobin in Giardia lamblia” at the annual Southern Ontario University Student Chemistry Conference (SOUSCC), held March 26, 2011 at the University of Waterloo.

“I am extremely proud of Eva’s achievement, as the quality of all the students’ presentations was extremely high and these awards are very competitive,” said Dr. Janet Yee, a professor in Trent’s Chemistry and Biology Departments, who, along with Dr. Steven Rafferty, supervised Ms. Yap’s research work.

Ms. Yap came to Trent from her home city Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Trent’s strong international reputation, great scholarship programs and small student-to-professor ratio were driving reasons for her decision to study here. Ms. Yap aspires to complete medical scientist training, which consists of a four-year medical degree followed by a four-year Ph.D. “I have always thought I’d study medicine,” she said, “but I didn’t think I’d be so passionate about research. This undergraduate research experience has really illustrated to me how exciting research is, and how physically relevant it is. I look forward to a career that combines medicine with research.”

Kelly Leblanc, also a fourth-year Trent University student, received an honourable mention for her presentation, “Selenocyanate: Production by Green Algae and Analysis Using Molecular Mass Spectrometry”.

“Eva and Kelly’s success at SOUSCC highlights the excellent and invaluable undergraduate research opportunities available at Trent,” said Prof. Yee.

The conference was attended by more than 100 undergraduate students, seven of these from Trent University. SOUSCC is an opportunity for senior-undergraduate students to present their work and foster new relationships with chemistry students and faculty from other universities. The best presentations, as evaluated by a panel of judges from industry and academia, are awarded certificates and monetary prizes. At the 2010 conference, students from more than 15 different universities gave over 100 presentations in seven divisions of chemistry.