Biology students Lara Varden and Rachel Yerden have each been awarded a 2019 National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF).
The GRF provides financial support for three years over a five-year fellowship period. Selection as a NSF Graduate Research Fellow is a significant national accomplishment. The NSF receives tens of thousands of GRF applications every year and only a small fraction are awarded.
Lara Varden is currently a PhD candidate in the Interdisciplinary Biosciences and Biotechnology Program (IBB) in the Department of Biology. She is co-mentored by Professors Arthur Michalek (Mech & Aero Eng), Shantanu Sur (Bio) and Thomas Lufkin (Bio). Her research is focused on intervertebral disc cellular physiology, biomechanics, and how aging results in disc degeneration leading to subsequent lower back pain.
Rachel Yerden is a Senior in the Department of Biology and is mentored by Professors Petra Kraus (Bio) and Thomas Lufkin (Bio). Her research is focused on regenerative medicine approaches to reverse intervertebral disc degeneration and the design of synthetic scaffolds for disc tissue replacement. As an undergraduate, Yerden has already published three peer-reviewed papers with the Sur, Kraus, Lufkin labs since joining Clarkson University.
NSF publishes lists of Fellowship recipients on the GRFP website at https://www.research.gov/grfp/Login.do
