Pitt-Greensburg students won a second-place poster award from the American Society for Microbiology

Two University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg students took home a second-place poster presentation award for their research at the Allegheny Branch of the American Society for Microbiology’s annual meeting earlier this month.

Jazmin Farabaugh and Michelle Gresser studied the effects of the compound gingerol on a type of muscular dystrophy, using nematode worms as a model. Previous work on the chemical showed some success in zebrafish, but the Pitt duo found no such evidence in nematodes.

The students were impressively independent in their work and were able to present their research after a single semester, said Olivia Long, their research adviser and an associate professor of biochemistry at Pitt-Greensburg.