Spector Prize shared by Krock, Minkina

Annual biology prize named in honor of 1938 graduate Marion Smith Spector

Each year, the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences awards a prize to a graduating student in memory of Marion Smith Spector, a 1938 WUSTL graduate who studied zoology under the late Viktor Hamburger, PhD, professor of biology and a prominent developmental biologist who made many important contributions while a faculty member at the university.

This year, the Spector Prize is being shared by two seniors: Rebecca Krock and Olga Minkina. Krock and Minkina were nominated by their research mentors for their outstanding work in research and the substantial contributions made to the field of that work.

Krock worked in the lab of Erik Herzog, PhD, associate professor of biology in Arts & Sciences. Her thesis is titled “GABA and Glutamate Mediate Circadian Functional Connectivity in the SCN.”

Krock plans to enter the doctoral program in neurobiology at Stanford University this fall.

Minkina worked with Jim Cheverud, PhD, professor of anatomy at the School of Medicine. Minkina’s thesis is “Quantitative Trait Loci Affecting Liver Fat Content in Mice.”

Minkina plans to enter the doctoral program in molecular and cell biology at Harvard University.

As part of the departmental recognition of this outstanding work, the two students will present their work at a special biology department seminar Monday, May 3.