Brandon University (BU) is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRAs), highlighting the exceptional talent and innovation of BU students. This year's group of awardees also marks 1,025 research grants awarded at BU, an important milestone as we celebrate our 125th anniversary as an institution.
At BU, USRA recipients benefit from an exceptionally high level of hands-on research experience, often comparable to the opportunities graduate students receive at larger universities. Thanks to BU's outstanding student-faculty ratio, undergraduate researchers work closely with their supervisors, gaining one-on-one mentorship and taking on meaningful roles in cutting-edge research projects.
The 2025 Summer USRAs are:
Ayodele Adeniyi: Sugar Feeding Dynamics of Mosquito Vectors
Supervised by Dr. Bryan Cassone
Lukas de Vries: Effect of Artificial-Intelligence Assisted Writing on Dopaminergic Activity
Supervised by Dr. Roberto Limongi
Evan Dreilich: Development of RNA-Seq Data Analysis Pipeline to Identify Markers Linked with Doxorubicin Resistance
Supervised by Dr. Mousumi Majumder
Sannelle Engelbrecht: Metabolic Impact of PERM-1 Knockdown in Zebrafish
Supervised by Dr. Christophe LeMoine
Bryce Friesen: Gauge Invariant Calculation of Transport Coefficients in Glasma
Supervised by Dr. Margaret Carrington
Marco Wahba Hanna: A Computational Investigation into Ovothiol's and Ergothioneine's Antioxidant Properties
Supervised by Dr. Eric Bushnell
Danielle Isfeld: Is the Ribosome Assembly Protein Emg1 Involved in Removing snR35 from its Target?
Supervised by Dr. Michael Charette
Jonah Jarvis: Development of Cooperative Catalysts for Hydrogen Activation
Supervised by Dr. Shrinwantu Pal
Noah Monk: The Eddington Capture Sphere: Implications for Accretion and Growth of Black Holes
Supervised by Dr. Adam Rogers
Brenna Sawchuk: A Control Scheme for Remotely Operated Vehicles Based on Collective Motions in Nature
Supervised by Dr. Adam Rogers
Geneviève Pearce: Investigating the Roles of Ectopic ATP Synthase in Cellular Stress Management
Supervised by Dr. Mousumi Majumder
Umer Shabbir: A Computational Investigation into the Production of H by Functionalized Pt-Dithiolene Catalysts
Supervised by Dr. Eric Bushnell
Favour Temitope: Evaluating the Roles of miRNA in Metabolic Stress Responses in Breast Cancer
Supervised by Dr. Mousumi Majumder
"Our Undergraduate Student Research Award recipients get an experience that is truly special. Thanks to BU's strong focus on mentorship and research, our undergraduates often take on responsibilities and leadership in research labs that would typically be reserved for graduate students elsewhere. This prepares them to excel in their future academic or professional careers, and we are immensely proud of their accomplishments." ± Dr. Bernadette Ardelli, Vice-President (Research and Graduate Studies)
Research is one of the central pillars of BU's mission, and these students exemplify the excellence we are proud to foster. Congratulations to each of them for their hard work and ambition. As we celebrate 125 years of academic achievement, their projects inspire confidence in the next 125 years to come." Dr. Kofi Campbell, Provost and Vice-President (Academic)
The Undergraduate Student Research Awards are funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). These awards support hands-on research experiences that prepare undergraduate students for future academic and professional success.
