Every year Saint Mary’s participates in the annual Scholars at the Capitol event by sending two high-achieving students to present their original research. Scholars at the Capitol is a free, open-to-the-public event that celebrates the rigorous and impactful undergraduate research from all disciplines happening at private colleges across Minnesota. Students are invited to the state capitol to present their work, which gives them the wonderful opportunity to engage and network with fellow students, members of the public, and Minnesota politicians. This year, two biology students – Xiaoyun Liang and Javier Rodriguez Cifuentes — were chosen to carry on this tradition that enables our students to directly champion the extraordinary work of Saint Mary’s to our local policymakers.
Xiaoyun presented her work examining the stress-inducing capacity of a drug commonly used to treat dementia, and Javier presented his work on the potential impacts of specific genetic mutations on infant epilepsy.
Xiaoyun and Javier did a wonderful job representing Saint Mary’s and advocating for undergraduate research statewide, even getting time to present their work to their state representatives! They are both seniors graduating this spring, and while Javier has already presented his thesis research (great job, Javier!), Xiaoyun will be presenting her research at the upcoming Celebration of Scholarship. So, keep an eye out for her talk!
For further questions about Scholars at the Capitol and Saint Mary’s participation, don’t hesitate to contact Phil Roper (proper@smumn.edu) or Ashley Ransom (aransom@smumn.edu).
