Thirteen undergraduate students presented research posters at the 2025 Arkansas INBRE (AR INBRE) Conference, held on Friday, November 7, and Saturday, November 8, 2025, in Northwest Arkansas. Ten of these students were from Lyon College’s Nawarathne Laboratory, while the remaining three represented Dr. Mayron Faria’s laboratory, Dr. Thomas’s laboratory, and a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) laboratory through an AR INBRE-supported Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. Together, the students presented eleven posters, including eight contributed by members of the Nawarathne Laboratory as part of their ongoing research in drug discovery.
The students were accompanied by faculty mentors Dr. Irosha Nawarathne and Dr. Mayron Faria, who provided guidance and support throughout the conference. Their preparation and professionalism were evident, as students received numerous compliments from conference attendees for their strong scientific communication skills, thorough preparation, and deep understanding of their research projects.
With women comprising the majority of the fifteen Lyon College participants, the conference also served as a meaningful opportunity to celebrate the strong representation and collective achievements of women in science. Student excellence was further recognized through poster awards. Cristian Del Gobbo, a Lyon College physics major, earned First Place in the Poster Competition, while Isaac Cottle, a Lyon College biological sciences major, received an Honorable Mention for his presentation.
Overall, student participation at the 2025 AR INBRE Conference highlighted the strength of undergraduate research training at Lyon College and demonstrated the impact of AR INBRE-supported research experiences in preparing students for future careers in science and medicine.
The titles of the student research projects presented at the conference are listed below:
1. Impaired cerebral oxygenation and autonomic dysregulation during exercise in migraine, Isaac Cottle, Julianna Novakovic, Alexander Eadie, Dave K. Marchand, Mayron F. Oliveira, Exercise Science.
2. Atmospheric microbial sampling via LADCAP launch vehicles, Jada-Lynn King, Arden Fraiser, David Thomas, Biology.
3. Synthesis of modified rifamycins using click chemistry to combat drug resistance, Zane Fountain, Natalya Kaza, Catherine Mills, Braden Glenn, Clara Nikkel, Grant Beeser, MaiLan Ho, Marissa Fullerton, Amanda Dragan, Daniel Voth, Ruud Dings, Samir Jenkins, Irosha N. Nawarathne, Chemistry.
4. Purification of rifamycin derivatives using high performance liquid chromatography, Grant Beeser, Mai-Lan Ho, Daniel Voth, Ruud Dings, Robert Shields, Irosha N. Nawarathne, Chemistry.
5. The study of curcumin’s synergistic activity with modified rifamycins using fluorescence-based biassays, Arden Fraiser, Clara Nikkel, Mai-Lan Ho, Irosha N. Nawarathne, Chemistry.
6. Modifications to naphthoquinone scaffold promises enhanced biological activities, including anti-lung cancer properties, Maria Cervantes, Brooklyn Penn, Priscilla Luevano, Lola Beeser, Nikkolette A. Perkins, Samir V. Jenkins, Ruud P. Dings, Irosha N. Nawarathne, Chemistry.
7. Novel benzoxazinorifamycin derivatives and the fight against drug resistance, Catherine Mills, Braden Glenn, Mai-Lan Ho, Marissa S. Fullerton, Daniel E. Voth, Irosha N. Nawarathne, Chemistry.
8. Insight into the mechanism of action of novel naphthoquinone derivatives using Data Independent Acquisition (DIA) preoteomics, Whitney Mitchell, Megan Bean, Samir V. Jenkins, Ruud P. Dings, Irosha N. Nawarathne, Chemistry.
9. Naphthoquinone derivatives as novel lung cancer therapeutics, Megan Bean, Clara Nikkel, Whitney Mitchell, Maria Cervantes, Priscilla Luevano, Brooklyn Penn, Mai-Lan Ho, Samir V. Jenkins, Marissa Fullerton, Daniel Voth, Ruud Dings, Irosha N. Nawarathne, Chemistry.
10. Deep learning for segmentation of bacterial flagella in microscopy images, Cristian Del Gobbo, Yong Wang, Mathematics and Computer and Data Sciences.
11. Synthesis of Modified Rifamycins Using Click Chemistry to Combat Drug Resistance, Wes Lange, Olivia Locke, Braden Glenn, Irosha N. Nawarathne, Chemistry.