TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Some two dozen undergraduate students, representing both The University of Alabama and Stillman College, will display presentations of their latest scientific research from noon until 2 p.m. on Friday, July 25 in the UA Biology Building, room 402.

Various faculty members, from both institutions, serve as mentors to the junior and senior-level students who conduct research over a two-year period as part of the Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Intern Program at UA.

Poster presentations on display will range from research efforts related to the neurological disorder dystonia, to insights gained into the cellular mechanisms underlying hypertension in African-Americans.

Students receive a stipend for the summer and funds for their research and for travel to regional and national conferences to present their work. The program is coordinated by Dr. Guy Caldwell, an assistant professor of biological sciences at UA. It is made possible as part of a $1.8 million Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Science Education grant awarded to UA.

Other aspects of the summer program involved a workshop in which guest speakers discuss their paths to becoming scientists and a field trip that gives students an inside look at the robotic protein crystallization facility at the UAB Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering in Birmingham.