The Honors College at Lone Star College offers students a global education experience that will help set them up for success in their chosen careers. LSC Honors College students recently participated in the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering (IBB) Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium at Rice University, with two of them taking top honors.
“The Honors College at Lone Star College prepares high-achieving students to conduct top-level research and present their findings at competitive arenas on the local, national and global stage,” said Katharine Caruso, Ph.D., LSC Associate Vice Chancellor Honors and International Education.
The IBB Research Symposium allowed undergraduate summer interns to present their research findings to more than 200 people. LSC Honors College students Agnes Gunawan and Cade Sellers were among 70 participants and two of 10 students who won top honors at the prestigious summer program.
“Earning top placements at competitions, like the IBB Research Symposium, proves Lone Star College offers innovative and quality programming that prepares students to succeed in an increasingly global world,” said Caruso.
As an LSC Honors College student, Gunawan was accepted into the American Heart Association Summer Cardiovascular Research Internship through Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU), a co-curricular program with LSC, San Jacinto College and Rice University. Her research project centered on how regulating antiviral cell production can find novel medicines to help immunosuppressant patients combat drug-resistant viruses they could get while in the hospital. Gunawan presented her findings at the IBB Research Symposium.
“The summer undergraduate research symposium at Rice University gave me a first-class opportunity to finetune my presentation skills while developing the confidence to share my research project on a complex subject with a large crowd,” said Gunawan. “This was a great and necessary step toward my future career in pediatric medicine.”
Gunawan graduated from LSC in spring 2023 and currently attends the University of Houston as a pre-med biology major. Click here to read more about Gunawan’s experiences with LSC Honors College and the IBB Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium. .
Sellers, who recently graduated from LSC, interned at the National Science Foundation (NSF) REU in Multi-Scale Biomolecular Networks and is now pursuing a degree in neuroscience at Rice University. He and his co-presenter, Thomas Witherspoon, displayed their research findings at the IBB Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium.
“Lone Star College has profoundly impacted my life,” said Sellers. “The college has helped me find a sense of purpose. I have made friends, learned about the world in many ways and found things to value.”
The Honors College at Lone Star College helps meet the needs of high-achieving students through study abroad opportunities, participation in national conferences, scholarships and internationalized classes.
“The Honors College at Lone Star College changes the concept of what community colleges can offer based on the caliber of our programs, students and faculty,” said Caruso.
Visit LoneStar.edu/College-Departments/Honors for more information about how the Honors College at Lone Star College changes lives.