Pipette grant for Whitham; STEAM scholarship for Gandhi
Pipette grant for Whitham follows meeting
You never know what opportunities may arise from a scientific meeting. Just ask graduate student Danielle Whitham of Clarkson University, the owner of a new set of pipettes funded by the Hamilton Company's pipette grant.

"I had heard about this grant opportunity at the ASBMB conference I recently attended," Whitham, a student in the biochemistry and proteomics group with chemistry and biomolecular science professor Costel Darie, told her university's press office. "I decided to apply for the grant and was surprised to see that we were chosen to receive it."
Whitham's research, at the annual meeting, focuses on protein biomarkers for breast cancer, in search of which she screens serum and breast milk from women with cancer and healthy controls. Identifying breast cancer early in young women is of particular interest because mammography is less effective in younger, denser tissues. Darie's lab has reported some preliminary success in finding proteins that are differentially expressed between breast milk from donors without cancer and donors whose cancer was diagnosed either before or after their donation.
The Hamilton Company is funding monthly $1,000 credits throughout 2022 to support teaching and research labs in purchasing its products. See eligibility guidelines .
STEAM scholarship for Gandhi
Khushi Gandhi, a sophomore at Northeastern University and a member of the school’s ͵͵ and ͵͵ Biology Student Chapter, has received a scholarship from the educational nonprofit organization Aspire2STEAM.

Gandhi, who is studying biochemistry with a minor in public health on the premedical track, aspires to become an obstetrician–gynecologist and bring novel treatments to bear on female infertility. Since December 2021, she has worked in the lab of ASBMB member , helping senior students on a computational chemistry project seeking new metabolic tracers for positron emission tomography imaging. She also has worked as a shadow/intern with the Health Administration of Pennsylvania Emergency Management Team and in a lung cancer screening lab at Massachusetts General Hospital, and she a spent the past summer interning in a neurosurgery practice.
Aspire2STEAM is a nonprofit that supports scholarships for women and girls seeking a college education or other training and certification in science, technology, engineering, mathematics or the arts.
Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?
Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition monthly.
Learn moreGet the latest from ASBMB Today
Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.
Latest in People
People highlights or most popular articles

Meet Robert Helsley
The Journal of Lipid Research junior associate editor studies chronic liver disease and was the first in his family to attend college.

Exploring life’s blueprint: Gene expression in development and evolution
Meet Julia Zeitlinger and David Arnosti — two co-chairs of the ASBMB’s 2025 meeting on gene expression, to be held June 26-29, in Kansas City, Missouri.

ASBMB names 2025 fellows
͵͵ and ͵͵ Biology honors 24 members for their service to the society and accomplishments in research, education, mentorship, diversity and inclusion and advocacy.

When Batman meets Poison Ivy
Jessica Desamero had learned to love science communication by the time she was challenged to explain the role of DNA secondary structure in halting cancer cell growth to an 8th-grade level audience.

The monopoly defined: Who holds the power of science communication?
“At the official competition, out of 12 presenters, only two were from R2 institutions, and the other 10 were from R1 institutions. And just two had distinguishable non-American accents.”

In memoriam: Donald A. Bryant
He was a professor emeritus at Penn State University who discovered how cyanobacteria adapt to far-red light and was a member of the ͵͵ and ͵͵ Biology for over 35 years.