CALS graduate students earn top honors at national scientific meeting

Three graduate students in N.C. State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences received high honors at a national multidisciplinary research meeting in April. The students were among winners at the 2014 Experimental Biology meetings, in conjunction with the American Society for Nutrition’s 78th Scientific Sessions and Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif.

Yihang Li, a doctoral student in the CALS Department of Animal Science and a graduate research assistant, was selected as a finalist in the highly competitive Proctor and Gamble graduate student paper competition for his research presentation, Characterization of the alterations in the differentiation potential of porcine mesenchymal stem cell caused by neonatal dietary calcium nutrition. He is mentored by Dr. Chad Stahl of the Department of Animal Science.

Maryanne Perrin, a doctoral student in the CALS Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences (FBNS), won a fellowship to continue her Ph.D. research, Testing Donor Exclusion Criteria to Increase the Supply of Donor Milk: Are Lactation-Duration Based Exclusions Justified? Perrin’s work is mentored by Dr. April Fogelman and Dr. John Allen of FBNS.

Hope Lima, an Animal Science Department master’s degree candidate and graduate teaching and research assistant, is the third CALS honoree. She was selected as winner in the M.S. student category for her research poster presentation, Effects of methylating vitamins and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation on intra-uterine growth retardation in a feed-restricted swine model. Lima’s award was presented by the Experimental Animal Nutrition Research Interest Section for her work funded by the Gates Foundation. Her mentors are Dr. Lin Xi and Dr. Jack Odle.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with each of these students, and I can attest to their strong work ethic and the standard of excellence to which they aspire,” said Odle. “They are a few of the shining examples of high-caliber nutritional science research ongoing within our College.”

The American Society for Nutrition is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing together the world’s top researchers, clinical nutritionists and industry to advance knowledge and application of nutrition for the sake of humans and animals. Experimental Biology is an annual meeting comprising more than 14,000 scientists and exhibitors representing six sponsoring societies and multiple guest societies. It features plenary and award lectures, pre-meeting workshops, oral and posters sessions, on-site career services and exhibits of an array of equipment, supplies and publications required for research labs and experimental study. – Terri Leith