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Steve Carr, (505) 277-1821

September 21, 2001

UNM BIOLOGY STUDENT RECEIVES UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP FROM AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR MICROBIOLOGY

University of New Mexico biology student Robert Dietz is one of only 32 selected nationally as a 2001 award recipient of the American Society For Microbiology (ASM) Undergraduate Research Fellowship.

The fellowship is aimed at highly competitive students who wish to pursue graduate careers in microbiology. Dietz, an Albuquerque-native who plans to use the fellowship to work toward a M.D. / Ph.D. degree to continue his research in the medical field. Of the 32 awards, 26 were awarded to students from research and doctoral institutions, while the remaining six were awarded to students from masters’ and liberal arts institutions. Each fellow will receive a $2,500 stipend, a one-year ASM student membership and travel expenses to the ASM General Meeting.

“I think that the ASM Undergraduate Fellowship is a tremendous opportunity for young researchers to get first hand experience into the world of biological research,” said Dietz. “It is a great learning tool from coming up with a project to presenting your research on a national stage.”

Dietz’ project, “Staphylococcus aureus Competitive Advantage in Infective Endocarditis,” basically takes the knowledge that platelets in the blood produce a protein that appears to have the ability to kill certain bacteria when they cause infections, such as Infective Endocarditis, which is an infection on the inner tissues of the heart. His project specifically looks at what would happen if a strain of Staphylococcus aureus (the infecting bacteria in this case) was susceptible to the antibacterial protein and a strain that was resistant to the protein (or did not die when exposed to the protein). In the experiment an in vitro model of a heart was used to simulate the infective endocarditis.

The American Society of Microbiology, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the oldest and largest single biological membership organization with more than 40,000 members worldwide.

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