Natasha Arora

09' Alumna, School of Science Interdisciplinary Studies Program
Ph.D. Student, Biological and Biomedical Science, Harvard University

Long hours in the lab are a way of life for Natasha Arora, a School of Science alumna whose current research involves unlocking the potential of adult stem cells. It is a passion she discovered in high school.

"I was always the kid who was asking questions," admits Arora, one of IUPUI's distinguished Bepko Scholarship recipients. "How does a light bulb turn on?; why is the sky blue?"

In high school, about the time stem cell research started turning up in the news, Arora took a genetics class that piqued her interest in the possibilities of such a field. Searching for a college that would prepare her for this career path, she found the IUPUI School of Science and the school's new Interdisciplinary Studies Program.

"I could go anywhere and get a biology degree, but that's not what I was looking for," says Arora, the first graduate of the school's interdisciplinary program with concentrations in molecular biology and math. "I really liked math, and I didn't want to give it up, so the interdisciplinary science degree at IUPUI was the perfect fit, enabling me to combine math and biology and tailor a program to the skills I would need to continue my work."

Continue she has. One of only a handful of non-Harvard students ever to be accepted into the Harvard Stem Cell Institute's internship program, Arora, who aspires to one day own her own biotechnology firm, had three Harvard Ph.D. programs vying for her.

For her doctoral thesis, the central Indiana native is focusing on sickle cell anemia, a disease for which new advancements in technology offer some exciting prospects for research. Specifically, Arora will be working at the cellular and molecular levels to find ways of making more definitive red blood cells as possible alternatives for treatment.

Anna Malkova

Professor, Department of Biology
Area: Genetics/Mechanisms of DNA Repair and Recombination

An authority in genomic instability, Dr. Anna Malkova's research focuses on pathways employed by living cells to repair double-strand DNA breaks. Abnormal repairs are believed to promote cancer in humans.

Malkova came to the United States from St. Petersburg, Russia in 1993. She spent nearly a decade as a post-doctoral fellow at Brandeis University. During that time, Dr. Malkova uncovered Break-Induced Replication (BIR), a pathway to repair DNA lesions.

Today, her research focuses on Break-Induced Replication. It has been suggested that some tumor cells use BIR to stabilize their chromosomal ends, leading to immortalization. Break-Induced Replication is implicated in formation of chromosomal rearrangements that affect genes involved in cell cycle regulation, leading to cancer.

Anna Malkova's lab is comprised of two Ph.D. students, one Master degree student, one post-doctoral fellow, one technician, three undergraduate research assistants, and five freshmen students who are planning to continue their research in Dr. Malkova's lab.

Brandon Downing, an alumnus starting his second year in Indiana University's M.D./Ph.D. program, attributes his decision to pursue a career in pediatric oncology to Malkova's mentorship. According to Downing, "In Dr. Malkova's lab the research I completed had direct medical relevance. Her infectious enthusiasm motivated me to continue this type of work."

Malkova's support of undergraduate research earned her lab several external grants from the National Institutes of Health, including a five-year award of more than $1.3 million. Since it opened in 2003, Malkova's lab has received over $1,762,000 in external funding support.

Andrew Strong

2009 Alumnus, School of Science
Medical Student, Cleveland Clinic

As Andrew Strong begins his first weeks of medical school at The Cleveland Clinic, researchers across the globe are accessing a database of more than 48,000 compounds he helped develop while studying chemistry at IUPUI. They're molecules that may one day take aim at life-threatening Third World diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. In a long list of Strong's accomplishments while on the Indianapolis campus, it's the one of which he's most proud.

Strong spent nearly three years working alongside School of Science professors Dr. Martin O'Donnell and Dr. Bill Scott on their Distributed Drug Discovery program (D3), a promising low-cost strategy to accelerate the identification of drugs to treat often-neglected diseases occurring primarily in the world's poorest countries. Strong's multidisciplinary training in chemistry, biology and informatics made him uniquely qualified to help launch the database.

"It was very interesting to stretch myself and figure out what I could do with the software, rewriting parts of it to do exactly what we wanted; it really added a whole other dimension to the project," explains Strong, who came to IUPUI as part of the Bepko Scholars and Fellows Program, the university's most prestigious scholarship. "Now we have thousands of molecules in a database that is publicly searchable - all compounds we're pretty sure we can make in a laboratory. It really opens the door for collaboration in drug discovery applications targeting Third World diseases."

As a result of Strong's pioneering work on the D3 project, he was a coauthor with Drs. O'Donnell and Scott on two of the team's first three journal articles published by the American Chemical Society's Journal of Combinatorial Chemistry (JCC) - one of the field's premier journals.

A graduate of North Central High School in Indianapolis, Strong says IUPUI was the only college he applied to that was larger than his high school. Initially enamored by the traditionally tight-knit atmosphere of small liberal arts colleges, he was struck by friends' and colleagues' observations of IUPUI's diversity.

Honored to be among a Top 100 group committed to engaging the community and the world, Strong, earned a near-perfect GPA during his four years on campus, and left IUPUI grateful for both the recognition and the opportunities he received along the way.

Twenty-four students from the School of Science were among IUPUI's "Top 100" for 2009, including Andrew Strong, IUPUI's Top Male student. The IUPUI Top 100 Student Recognition Awards are sponsored annually by the IUPUI Alumni Council and the Student Organization for Alumni Relations (SOAR).

Beatrice Thungu

Biology Major

Beatrice Thungu's love of science first blossomed under simple circumstances, worlds away from a classroom or laboratory. As a young girl in Kenya, Thungu, ever curious about her natural surroundings, spent many afternoons studying the comings and goings of tree frogs. This childhood pastime inspired a desire to take biology courses, and later spurred her dream of becoming a doctor.

Now beginning her senior year at IUPUI, the young biology major has been in the U.S for just three years. A recipient of an IUPUI Diversity Scholars Research Program scholarship, Thungu has immersed herself in the college experience by participating in numerous academic, campus and community service organizations. It was Thungu's impressive combination of high scholastic achievement, strong commitment to research and campus involvement that earned her the honor of being chosen IUPUI's Top Female Student - an honor most often reserved for seniors.

"Being named top student was something I didn't expect at all, and I was extremely grateful; very grateful," says Thungu. "I'm hoping in the future to become a doctor and help back home, as well as here in the United States."

A volunteer in the ambulatory surgery department at St. Francis Hospital in Indianapolis, Thungu is currently applying to the Indiana University School of Medicine's MD/PhD program. For more than two years, Thungu has already worked with mentor Dr. Keith Dunker, director of the School of Medicine's Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, assisting with his research in the area of disordered proteins. It's this research, she says, that inspired her to apply for the program. She's excited about the prospects of attending the IU School of Medicine because of the school's ongoing partnership with Moi University in her home country.

"When I was young, we had to walk a long way to get medical help and supplies," she says. "I want to make medical care accessible to people - make it so people don't have to stand in line to be told to come back in two weeks for medication."

Twenty-four students from the School of Science were among IUPUI's "Top 100" for 2009, including Beatrice Thungu, IUPUI's Top Female student. The IUPUI Top 100 Student Recognition Awards are sponsored annually by the IUPUI Alumni Council and the Student Organization for Alumni Relations (SOAR).