Image: Riju Balachandran, a PhD student in Dr. Edward Kipreos' laboratory, has the outstanding accomplishment of winning both the Mary Loraine Young Hines Graduate Fellowship in Cancer Research and the Grimes Family Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in Natural Sciences from the University of Georgia Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Each of these fellowships is awarded to just one student working the area of cancer research and provides research funding for a year. Riju has identified the CRL2-ZYG11 ubiquitin ligase as a key regulator of mitotic exit. CRL2-ZYG11 allows cancer cells that are treated with anti-mitotic chemotherapy drugs to evade death by exiting mitosis in a process termed “mitotic slippage”. Her work shows that simultaneously targeting CRL2-ZYG11 significantly improves the efficacy of these chemotherapy compounds. These fellowships support excellence, innovation, and dedication in graduate research, and this accomplishment reflects Riju’s hard work and commitment to high quality science. Type of News/Audience: Graduate students
