Biological Sciences alum Sidney Strause has earned global recognition for her research on heart health. Strause, now a biomedical research Ph.D. student at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine, received the International Union of Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB) Poster Prize at the 17th International Meeting on P-Type ATPases in Health & Disease in Cairns, Australia.
Her award-winning project used CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to reduce NKA levels in heart muscle cells. By watching how those cells responded to stress and shifted between fuel sources, Strause and her team uncovered new clues that could guide future therapies for heart failure.
Strause is pursuing her Ph.D. with a focus on cardiovascular cell biology and hopes to continue her career in academic research, advancing the field while mentoring the next generation of scientists.