Student Marlin Sanchez in Micro Biology Lab

Professor Olga Steinberg of the Natural Sciences department was awarded $796,000 by the National Science Foundation for the research project, The Physical and Functional Interplay Between Telomere and Repair Proteins: Mechanistic and Evolutionary Insights From an Unconventional Model. As co-principal investigator, and in collaboration with Weill Medical College of Cornell University (WMCCU), Steinberg will lead the educational component of the grant that allows Hostos students to participate in hands-on biomedical research at the modern laboratories of WMCCU. The grant benefits students as they take part in the research process of exploring the mechanisms and function of telomeres, the nucleoprotein complexes located at the very ends of DNA molecules. Telomeres play an important role in aging, cancer, and overall stability of a genome.

The grant also funds a two-month summer internship at WMCCU and to ensure students receive training throughout the year, the CUNY Research Scholars Program supports the students during the academic year.

This is the second award Steinberg’s team has received that supports minority students interested in biomedical research. Her project runs from 2018 through 2021 and recruitment is currently underway for the 2018-2019 academic year as well as summer 2019. Contact Professor Steinberg at osteinberg@hostos.cuny.edu for more information.