Two esteemed students from the UBRP program applied and were selected as BRAVO! scholars to conduct research this past summer at Wuhan University in China. Who are these students? They are Christina Kwong, a biochemistry and music major, and Kevin Chandler, a biochemistry and Spanish major. Although both conducted research in the same institution, the topics of their research are as different as China itself.

Christina worked in the lab of Dr. Yi Zhang, Department of Biotechnology. The primary focus of her research was Hepatitis B and ribozymes. The goal of her project was to "study the cleavage efficiencies of different ribozymes on the HBV virus (HBV)." This field of research is important because if a "ribozyme sequence is found that cleaves the HBV transcript well, it may be useful for antiviral treatment."

Kevin worked under the direction of Dr. Bing Tang, Department of Life Sciences. Kevin's research focused on thermo-stable serine proteases.

In addition to the educational aspect of their stay in China, both Kevin and Christina were able to see many cultural sights, which include The Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan; Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, The Great Wall in Beijing; the Three Gorges (and the Three Gorges Dam) near Yi Chang; Yu Yuan Gardens and the Bund in Shanghai.

It was apparent that these experiences were life changing for both of them. I encourage UBRP students to attend the datablitzes so that you too can learn about international research and cultural experiences of your peers.

Sarah Rios, UBRPer in Dr. Robert Gillies' lab, Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics