FRESNO (APRIL 17, 2007) – There were a record number of presenters at the 28th Annual Central California Research Symposium, held April 12 at the University Business Center on the campus of California State University, Fresno.

Hosted by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at California State University, Fresno, the Symposium serves to bring together investigators, students, and faculty from a variety of disciplines to share the results of their scholarly work. Co-sponsors of the event include the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Fresno Medical Education Program, and Alliant International University.

A total of 66 oral and 53 poster presentations were made at the event, which attracted students from throughout the Central Valley and as far as San Jose.

Two students from California State University, Fresno captured first-place honors for their oral presentations. Carlos Tristán (pictured at left) received graduate honors for his project, “Expression Profile of Transgenic Nicotiana tabacum Plants Expressing Caenorhadbitis elegans’ Cell Death,” while Hilary Casner received first-place honors for best undergraduate oral presentation.

In the poster competition, the two first-place winners were Sivakumar Sachidhanantham ("Geo-spatial modeling of wine grape quality using GIS”) and Christian Aguilar ("Protein Profile of Transgenic Nicotiana tabacum Plants Expressing Caenorhadbitis elegans’ Cell Death Genes”).

In addition, Edward Reese was honored for the best sciences presentation, an award sponsored by the American Chemical Society.

A complete list of winners follows. For any questions, please contact Doug Carey at (559) 278-0840.

Doctoral Award for Best Poster Presentation ($250):
Justin Matthews (pictured at right) – How Spatial is Social Distance?

Graduate Award for Best Oral Presentation ($250):
1st place: Carlos Tristán –
Expression Profile of Transgenic Nicotiana tabacum Plants Expressing Caenorhadbitis elegans’ Cell Death Genes

Undergraduate Award for Best Oral Presentation ($250):
1st place: Hilary Casner – Applying the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis to Driving Situations: A Preliminary Analysis

Honorable Mention (Tie):
Paula Wright – Health, Wealth, and Home: The Effects of Household Air Quality on Income
and
Sean Thompson – Fluid Biomechanics of a Mussel Bed

Award for Best Sciences Presentation: ($250):
Edward Reese (Poster) - Convergent Evolution of Antifreeze Proteins: Bioinformatics of the Genes and Proteins

Awards for Best Poster Presentation: ($250 for each first-place winner):
1st place (Session I):  Sivakumar Sachidhanantham - Geo-spatial modeling of wine grape quality using GIS

Honorable mention (Session I): Vanessa Becerra -
A Key to Brachyuran Megalopae of the San Francisco Bay Estuary

1st place: (Session II): Christian Aguilar -
Protein Profile of Transgenic Nicotiana tabacum Plants Expressing Caenorhadbitis elegans’ Cell Death Genes

Honorable mention (Session II):  Nicholas Blanchard –
Phenotypic Characterization and Genetic Mapping of Traits in the Pepper Root Rot Pathogen