Department of Biology

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A year-end review of students and alums who earned prestigious scholarships through the National Scholarship Office

Nov. 11, 2024

Recipients represent a variety of fields and backgrounds, and their scholarships will provide invaluable opportunities to deepen their studies, gain new perspectives and grow in their fields.

Flyer for VCU Biology Grad Open House. Image Contains date, event highlights, and zoom and in-person meeting information.

Join the Biology Department for a Grad School open house!

Oct. 22, 2024

VCU Biology Grad Open House: Explore Your Future in Science

Aditya Kotha, a senior at VCU, researches alternative and affordable treatments for inflammatory immune disorders. (Thomas Kojcsich, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

How I found my research: Aditya Kotha is exploring if some medications can be repurposed to treat other ailments

Sept. 25, 2024

Kotha, a Goldwater Scholar, hopes that his research in VCU’s Ryan Immunology Lab will one day help ‘improve and advance patient care.’

For the first time since 2021, Spit for Science – the nation’s largest genetic and environmental study of college students – is collecting samples for a new cohort, and researchers hope to recruit more than 1,000 students. (Photo by Emily Komornik, Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation).

VCU’s Spit for Science, the largest genetic and environmental study of college students in the U.S., is expanding

Sept. 25, 2024

Already with more than 13,000 participants, the registry will invite VCU’s new freshman class to join a research project that delivers insight into their health and well-being.

Aleah Nguyen pursued her interest in pediatric cancer research this summer through the Honors Summer Undergraduate Research Program. (Contributed image)

Undergrad Aleah Nguyen embraces the chance ‘to write my own story’ in pediatric cancer research

Aug. 13, 2024

The rising junior in VCU’s Honors College participated in a summer program that paired her with a School of Medicine researcher.

Zachary Hodgen’s lifelong goal of becoming a doctor has led him to a research lab at the University of Virginia this summer where he is researching worms that might offer insight into human biology. (Contributed photo)

Pre-med student Zachary Hodgen is examining what worms can tell us about the aging process

July 25, 2024

In an internship at a lab at UVA, Hodgen has developed a love of research and gained new insights into the medical field he one day hopes to join.

Student Tamara Eddy learned canoe skills on the third day of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Footprints on the James class this summer. Sitting in the front of a canoe, Eddy ran one of her first white water rapids at Powhite Ledges. It can be seen upstream from the Powhite Parkway. The image was taken with a GoPro mounted on the bow of the boat. (Photo: James Vonesh)

Footprints on the James continues to make a deep impression on VCU students

July 10, 2024

With the river as a classroom, the monthlong experiential learning program marks a decade of combining undergraduate research, teamwork – and plenty of paddling.

Now in its third year, the VCU Breakthroughs Fund has supported more than 30 projects through investments totaling nearly $6 million. (Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

VCU Breakthroughs Fund provides grants to 10 more faculty-led projects that pursue transformative innovation

July 2, 2024

Health, equity, sustainability and the human experience are the driving forces for transdisciplinary teams that target society’s grand challenges.

As sea level rates increase, natural islands respond by migrating landward. Here, overwash breaches a dune located on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. (Photo contributed by Julie Zinnert)

Barrier islands and dunes protect our coastline – but how are environmental changes affecting them and adjacent land?

June 13, 2024

In a new report, VCU biology professor Julie Zinnert shares findings from studying Virginia’s Eastern Shore.

VCU alum Aisha Kamara meets with the governor of Huambo Province in Angola, who is sharing her thanks to the U.S. Department of State and the American people for clearing landmines in the province 10 years previously. (Contributed photo)

Study abroad inspired VCU alums to pursue global careers

May 31, 2024

Now far from campus, Calvin Watson and Aisha Kamara built on their academic experiences to embrace international opportunities.