{"id":115200,"date":"2024-10-16T09:13:13","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T14:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=115200"},"modified":"2024-10-16T09:43:45","modified_gmt":"2024-10-16T14:43:45","slug":"turpen-award-winner-jaworski-credits-mentor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2024\/10\/16\/turpen-award-winner-jaworski-credits-mentor\/","title":{"rendered":"Turpen Award winner Jaworski credits mentor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A scholar one professor called “one of the most accomplished people I know under the age of 30,” a recipient of 15 scholarships and academic\/research awards as an undergraduate, a tutor, mentor and volunteer, Grace Jaworski now also is the 2024 James Turpen Award winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INBRE Scholar Jaworski received the award at the annual INBRE conference held in August at the Lied Conference Center in Nebraska City, Nebraska.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Downers Grove, Illinois, native and Creighton University graduate now is attending the University of California, Berkeley, to pursue her PhD in biology with a long-term goal of being a biology professor.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Turpen Award is presented annually at the INBRE conference to the top graduating student scientist who is attending graduate school. The honor, named for UNMC\u2019s former NE-INBRE principal investigator, includes a $500 cash award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaworski called the award an honor and a privilege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’ve looked up to all the other scholars for the past two years,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I would say getting the award is a little bit surprising, because I think everyone’s very qualified. But overall, it’s an honor to be recognized and to be rewarded after working very hard over the past two years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaworski worked in the laboratory of Lynne Dieckman, PhD, associate chair of the Creighton University Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, who encouraged her to apply to the INBRE program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe’s one who really saw my potential, before I saw it in myself,\u201d Jaworski said. \u201cTo have someone that’s in your corner to that level and really believes in you, it made all the difference for me. I will always be grateful for her mentorship, her guidance and just pushing me to really reach for the stars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaworski\u2019s undergraduate research work involved the study of two proteins \u2013 PCNA and CAF-1 \u2013 and the way they interact to properly organize DNA in the nucleus to avoid genome instability and disease.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrace is a one-of-a-kind student and researcher and one of the most accomplished people I know under the age of 30,\u201d Dr. Dieckman said. \u201cBy the time she graduated from Creighton University, she had presented her research at 13 local, regional and national scientific conferences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than half of those presentations were either invited presentations (three) or achieved top presentation awards (four), and Jaworski went on to receive a total of 15 scholarships and academic\/research awards and honors during her undergraduate career. (NE-INBRE also provided funding for some of these travel experiences.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also recently became published as co-author on a journal article in the Journal of Molecular Biology<\/em>, Dr. Dieckman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other accomplishments? Jaworski was:<\/p>\n\n\n\n