Anya McDaniel, UAB Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine second-year student, has been selected as a national recipient of the Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship. The award will fund McDaniel’s second year of research in the UAB Department of Surgery on a collaborative project between Angela M. Carter, Ph.D., and Karin M. Hardiman, M.D., Ph.D., which McDaniel joined last summer as a participant in the department's Short-Term Research Experiences Advancing Medical Students (STREAMS) program.
The AOA Fellowship supports first- and second-year medical students who plan to pursue careers as physician-scientists. Each AOA chapter may nominate only one candidate per year, and approximately 50 fellows are selected nationally.
McDaniel’s research journey
McDaniel’s path began last summer through STREAMS, an NIH T35-funded program in the UAB Department of Surgery that places medical students in mentored research projects with surgical and research faculty. McDaniel continued the work as a volunteer throughout the academic year, deepening her involvement in the collaborative project between the Carter and Hardiman labs before applying to the Fellowship to extend her research into a second year.
“Anya joined the lab last summer and has continued her exceptional level of work throughout the academic year”, said Angela M. Carter, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Division of Surgical Oncology. “She has shown the kind of consistency and intellectual ownership that the fellowship is designed to recognize. We’re excited to see how this award will allow her to take the project to the next stage.”
McDaniel's project, titled “The role of amphetamine in F. nucleatum-driven progression of colorectal cancer,” examines how exposure to amphetamines may influence Fusobacterium nucleatum, a gut bacterium increasingly linked to the development and progression of colorectal cancer. The work builds on an ongoing collaboration between the Carter and Hardiman labs investigating how substance exposure may alter the microbiome, promoting tumor formation and growth.
“Collaborations like this one give students exposure to both basic science and translational questions early in their training. Anya's selection reflects the strength of that model and the quality of her contributions,” said Karin M. Hardiman, M.D., Ph.D., professor and associate vice chair of basic research in the UAB Department of Surgery.
About the Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship
The Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship is administered by Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and provides funding for clinical investigation, basic laboratory research, epidemiology, social science and health services research, leadership, or professionalism projects. The fellowship honors Carolyn L. Kuckein, a long-time AOA administrator and honorary member of the society who died in 2004. Each AOA chapter that nominates a candidate is also required to review an application from another school, building a peer-review element into the national selection process.