The Department is delighted to recognize the 2023 awardees of the The Jim Hopper Memorial Undergraduate Research Award.

Irene Rozenberg earned the award to complete research in the lab of Dr. Hirochi Tanaguchi in the Department of Pathology. Her project is searching for transcription factor proteins whose expression acts in the differentiation process for a brain cell type called cortical chandelier cells. Irene was able to present some of her work at our annual open house in September.

Saranya Lamba earned the award to complete research in the lab of Dr. Dario Palmieri in the Department of . Her project investigates the role of a protein called Nucleolin in triple negative breast cancer cells. Saranya was able to present some of her work at our annual open house in September.

These awards were funded by the The Jim Hopper Memorial Undergraduate Research Fund.

Dr. Jim Hopper was a valued faculty member in the Department of Molecular Genetics from 2006 until his untimely death in 2017 at the age of 74. Jim's research sought to understand how cells respond to environmental cues by regulating transcriptional switches, with a focus on galactose-responsive transcription in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. His lab was the first to clone the yeast Gal4 gene, and his work contributed greatly to our understanding of post-transcriptional regulation of genetic switches. His work resulted in more than 50 publications and was funded by the NIH for over 30 years.

Jim was a generous and thoughtful scientist with widespread interests and talents. He was a world-class gymnast (All American on still rings in 1963) and other hobbies included glass blowing, woodworking, stone work, gardening, snorkeling, photography, cooking, and reading. Most importantly, Jim was an amazing husband and father and a dedicated mentor and teacher to his students.

The Jim Hopper Memorial Fund was made possible by contributions from colleagues, friends, and family of Jim Hopper and by a gift of the estate of Dr. Charles H. Baer to the Department of Molecular Genetics. Consider supporting the fund here