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Madelyn Isbel awarded 2025 Thomas J Byers Award

December 3, 2025

Madelyn Isbel awarded 2025 Thomas J Byers Award

Award announcement with images of Madelyn Isbel and Thomas Byers

The Department is delighted to recognize the first 2025 awardee of the The Thomas J Byers Award

 
 

Madelyn Isbel is a Molecular Genetics major in Adriana Dawes's lab, and she uses computer modeling to study vulval development in two nematode worms (C. elegans and C. briggsae) using two complementary simulation codes. By modeling 73 developmental parameters, the program predicts viable offspring outcomes across individual lineages as well as at the population level.

AWe asked Madelyn a few questions about her time at OSU

Why did you pick Molecular Genetics at OSU?
I chose Molecular Genetics at OSU because of the undergraduate research opportunities and the strong, close-knit community within the department.
 
What excites you most about being involved in research?
Research excites me because I get to contribute to the discovery of new genetic information, while applying what I learn in the classroom to meaningful, real-world questions.
 

This award was funded by the Thomas J. Byers Memorial Fund

Dr. Thomas Jones Byers, came to OSU in 1964, as the University's first "molecular biologist." He was an original member and founder of the Molecular Genetics Department and the first director of the Graduate Program in Developmental Biology. Tom Byers' research concerned the cell growth, differentiation, and developmental biology of protozoa. Among other achievements, Byers was able to use DNA analysis to link the disease to contamination of contact lenses with the amoeba Acanthamoeba griffini from domestic tap water to the blinding disease Acanthamoeba keratitis. His research resulted in more than 40 articles and he was one of three editors of the book, Genetics and Biogenesis of Mitochondria and Chloroplasts (1975).

The Resolution of Memoriam by the OSU Board of Trustees, noted that Tom was a faculty member who had the remarkable ability to balance his skillful classroom teaching with his innovative research program and people-related service activities, while supporting junior faculty development, and mentoring new faculty and graduate students--especially those from minoritized groups.

The Thomas J. Byers fund was established June 1, 2007 with gifts from family, friends, and colleagues in memory of Dr. Thomas Jones Byers. Consider contributing to the fund.