2020 3MT Winners
Winner—Punam Rawal
Punam completed her Bachelor of Science, Pharmacy from Kathmandu University, Nepal in the year 2016. After working in a diverse range of pharmaceutical fields ranging from academia to pharmaceutical industry, she decided to pursue a graduate degree. Due to her strong interest in neuropharmacology, she joined the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at KU in 2018 and is currently a third year PhD student at Zhao lab. Their lab focuses on neurobiology and neuroendocrinology of aging and neurodegenerative diseases with an emphasis on late-onset Alzheimer’s Disease. Her research is aimed to understand the functional role of Clusterin, one of the top three genetic risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, in the brain. The ultimate goal of her research is to develop Clusterin as a novel treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, cooking, watching movies and traveling.
Learn about Punam's research
Second Place & People's Choice Award—Megan Hamilton
Megan is a doctoral student in Bioengineering. She chose this field because she has always been interested in both science and medicine, and studying biomedical engineering allows her to learn and apply scientific principles to issues in healthcare. Throughout her time studying at KU, her favorite part has been learning how to be a capable, independent researcher. After graduate school, she hopes to continue working in the field of stem-cell based therapies. She is passionate about working toward treatments for diseases previously deemed untreatable, and she hopes to one day have her own research lab focused on this area. She says, "KU has introduced me to so many amazing professors who have inspired me to go into academia and who helped teach me how to accomplish this."
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