Two graduate students from the Chapkin and Ivanov Labs at Texas A&M University have been awarded a HEEP Graduate Fellowship sponsored by the Hagler Institute for Advanced Study.
The HEEP Graduate Fellowship is awarded to those who demonstrate outstanding academic performance, research ability, and potential leadership qualities.
Both Destiny Mullens and Michael Salinas will be working with Dr. Sharon Donovan, incoming Hagler Faculty Fellow from the University of Illinois, Champaign. The Chapkin lab, Dr. Donovan and collaborators (Dr. Ivan Ivanov, Dr. Irina Gaynanova, and Dr. Grace Yoon) will systematically integrate genomic data from both the infant (host mucosa) and gut microbiota in order to define host-microbe gene-diet interactions within the context of the structure and functionality of gut microbial communities.