South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases awards doctoral scholarships
Christopher Pierce and Tricia Van Laar

Christopher Pierce and Tricia Van Laar
(Sept. 30, 2010)--Cellular and molecular biology students Tricia Van Laar and Christopher Pierce are the recipients of the 2010 UTSA South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID) doctoral scholarships. Both students will receive $21,500 to help complete their doctoral work.
Under the direction of Janakiram Seshu, UTSA associate professor of bacterial pathogenesis, Van Laar is researching Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium responsible for Lyme disease. Her research focuses on whether the symptoms of Lyme disease can be reduced by clinically approved medications that inhibit a key metabolic pathway of the pathogen. When Van Laar graduates, she plans to complete a post-doctoral fellowship and move on to a tenure-track position where she can continue her infectious disease research.
"Being selected to receive this scholarship is an incredible honor, and I am extremely grateful to have been chosen as one of the recipients this year," said Van Laar.
Pierce is the second recipient of the 2010 STCEID scholarship. Under the guidance of Jose Lopez-Ribot, UTSA professor of microbiology, Pierce is working on a project to identify and characterize small molecules that inhibit Candida albicans biofilm formation and filamentation. The fungus C. albicans causes a wide variety of infections from a common yeast infection to the life-threatening hospital-acquired infection called candidiasis.
Like Van Laar, Pierce hopes ultimately to obtain a tenure-track faculty position upon completing his doctoral degree.
"My desire to become a professor at a research institution is driven by my interest in understanding and studying complex biology and my aspiration to instill this knowledge and encourage curiosity in the minds of others," he said.
This is the second year the UTSA center has awarded the scholarships to promising doctoral students.
"The South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases is committed to recruiting and training talented students who are interested in infectious disease research," said Karl Klose, UTSA professor of microbiology and STCEID director. "We implemented our annual scholarship program as a way to help students through the costly and time-intensive process of obtaining a doctoral degree. We congratulate Ms. Van Laar and Mr. Pierce for their dedication in working toward their doctoral degrees."
Events
UTS Bold Careers hosts Student Technology Council where students have the opportunity to share feedback about technology needs to the UTS Leadership. The Leadership will also provide updates as to the technolgy projects for the campus.
Mesquite Room (SU 2.01.24,) Student Union, Main CampusJoin us for a hands-on workshop about the basics of copyright, both in education and as a researcher. We’ll dispel some common copyright myths, differences between copyright law and other intellectual property law, and teach you how to apply a Fair Use checklist to your scholarly work.
Virtual Event (Zoom)In this workshop, we will explore sentiment analysis, a method for identifying feelings in text, whether the tone is positive, negative, or neutral.
Group Spot B, John Peace LibraryLearn to use the simple but powerful features of EndNote®, a citation management tool. In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn to setup an EndNote library, save references and PDFs, and automatically create and edit a bibliography.
Virtual Event ( Zoom)The Urban Bird Project at UTSA will discuss urban bird populations, conservation efforts, and how you can get involved.
JPL Assembly Room (4.04.22,) Main CampusThe DMPTool is a free online resource that helps researchers create data management plans. This workshop will cover the main components of DMPs and how to create them using the DMPTool. Attendees will learn to: locate templates by funding agency, add research collaborators, and identify institutional guidance.
Virtual Event (Zoom)Join UTSA Libraries and Museums to learn more about the publishing discounts available for UTSA researchers. Current agreements include Elsevier, Cambridge University Press, Wiley, and more. Bring your questions and feedback for the library as we continue to pursue partnerships with publishers to reduce costs for our researchers.
Virtual Event (Zoom)