MUSCMedical LinksCharleston LinksArchivesMedical EducatorSpeakers BureauSeminars and EventsResearch StudiesResearch GrantsCatalyst PDF FileCommunity HappeningsCampus News

Return to Main Menu

MSTP student wins several research awards 

by Cindy Abole
Public Relations
For Aiken-native Lena Heung, completing her third-year in the Medical Scientist Training Program has been the charm. In addition to winning several research awards, Heung won an exclusive invitation to attend a three week molecular biology course at the prestigious Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass. 

Lena Heung

Heung won second place in the doctorate oral level in last November’s Student Research Day. Her research entry on cryptococcus as a model to study the spread of parasitic fungi among immuno-suppressed patients was recognized among judging teams.

In March, she won a Burroughs Wellcome Fund Travel Award allowing her to attend and present an oral and poster presentation at the Fifth International Conference of Cryptococcus and Cryptococcosis in Adelaide, Australia. Heung was accompanied by assistant professor and advisor Maurizio Del Poeta, M.D., and post-doctoral fellow Chiara Luberto, Ph.D., both of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

“Lena is an exceptional student and I’m delighted that she chose to focus her research work in my lab,” said Del Poeta, citing Heung’s remarkable scientific progress since joining his lab. “It’s very important to allow student researchers enough room to work independently to form their own ideas, questions and conclusions among their many challenges. Hopefully, Lena’s interest combined with these difficulties and challenges will help guide her career.”

In August, Heung will attend a molecular mycology course with 18 other invited research faculty, post-doctoral candidates and other top scientists. She is expected to spend long days attending seminars, lectures and conducting lab work to learn new techniques and network with other world-class researchers and scientists.

The Marine Biological Laboratory is the oldest private marine laboratory in the western hemisphere and recognized as one of the nation’s top research institutions. Their renowned summer program is recognized for their teaching, research and involvement in preparing the country’s next league of leading research scientists. 

“Lena has demonstrated an extraordinary potential and talents as a budding research scientist,” said Perry V. Halushka, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the College of Graduate Studies. “Her potential was recognized by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Under the expert tutelage of her mentor, Dr. Del Poeta, we expect her to flourish into an independent scientist and a future leader in academic medicine.”

Heung, who graduated from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1999, has held a lifelong interest in science. As a biology major, she became attracted to the field of infectious diseases through her senior research thesis on plant bacteria and courses on blood diseases and neuroscience. She conducted summer research work at the National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS) at Research Triangle Park. In 1998, Heung also participated in a summer lab rotation at MUSC conducting research with Frank Spinale, M.D., Ph.D., professor of surgery, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. 

“It’s exciting that she will be in the same scientific environment as James Watson and Francis Crick, who together discovered the molecular structure for DNA in 1953,” said Del Poeta, himself a Woods Hole alumnus. “It’s what an ideal research and learning environment should be.”