Edward Zhou of Poughkeepsie Receives Summer Science Fellowship

2014 Aug 8

Through the newly-established Lister Summer Fellowships, three Hofstra University Honors College students were given the opportunity to stay on campus to work on individual research projects June-August under the mentorship of a Hofstra chemistry professor. Among these high achieving students is Edward Zhou of Poughkeepsie, NY. Edward is a Senior at Hofstra, majoring in Biochemistry.

Edward, who has been working with Professor Emily Mundorff since his freshman year, is studying a family of enzymes, haloalkane dehalogenases (HLD), which have properties that may be used to clean environmental pollution, decontaminate chemical welfare agents and manufacture other chemicals. Edward’s research involves identifying members of the HLD family and expanding understanding of HLD enzymes. Edward is president of the student chapter of the American Chemical Society on campus. He is in the 4+4 Program (BS-BA/MD) which will allow him to enter Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine after he completes his undergraduate studies.

The Lister Fellowships were made possible by a $250,000 gift from Dr. Bruce Lister and his spouse Doris Lister in 2013. "Science majors often cite cost and the need to obtain summer employment as a reason they cannot spend more time on research work in their field of study," said Dr. Lister, who wants to help alleviate that burden for promising young scientists. The selected students received a $3,500 stipend and a grant to cover 50 percent of their on-campus housing costs.

Students are selected as Lister Summer Fellows on the basis of academic achievement, research potential and demonstrated interest in pursuing a career in science research.

The three fellowship recipients will write a report about their research and participate in a public presentation of their work during the Hofstra University Honors College Poster Session in December 2014. For more information on Hofstra University's Department of Chemistry, visit hofstra.edu/chemistry.