Streeter, Whisenant, and Chen Receive Prestigious Departmental Honors

Three graduate students in the University of Houston’s Department of Biology and Biochemistry have been awarded competitive fellowships in recognition of their outstanding research achievements and scholarly promise.

Emily Whisenant and Margaret Streeter have each received the A.P. Kimball Graduate Fellowship, while Si Chen has been awarded the Robert Hazelwood Graduate Fellowship for Cancer Research. The annual fellowships provide $5,000 in support to exceptional Ph.D. students advancing innovative research in their respective fields.

Margaret Streeter: Understanding Climate Change Effects on Polar Fish

Margaret Streeter, a Ph.D. student in the lab of Assistant Professor Jacob Daane, is using Antarctic fish embryos to explore the ecological consequences of ocean warming. Streeter’s research reveals that rising temperatures can disrupt embryonic development, cause premature hatching, and limit the window for successful reproduction. She has modeled the effects of climate change on breeding seasons and is preparing a first-author manuscript that predicts significant ecological consequences for polar marine ecosystems by 2100.

Streeter also co-led international fieldwork in New Zealand to study species that have naturally adapted from Antarctic to sub-Antarctic waters, offering a potential model for future climate resilience. Her contributions have been recognized with a SCAR travel award and co-authorship on multiple publications.

“Maggie is instrumental in our lab’s success,” Daane said. “She excels in fieldwork, lab techniques, mentoring, and computational biology.”

Emily Whisenant: Mapping Brain Aging Through Fish Models

Emily Whisenant, a Ph.D. candidate in the lab of Professor Arne Lekven, studies the African turquoise killifish to understand how aging affects brain function. Her work centers on the Wnt//β-catenin signaling pathway, a key player in brain development and degeneration. Whisenant has developed transgenic killifish lines and pioneered advanced imaging techniques to visualize gene expression in adult brains.

One of her landmark findings involves the discovery of a Wnt-responsive region in the brain’s habenula—a structure involved in mood and decision-making—leading to new insights into neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s. Whisenant’s research has yielded multiple manuscripts in preparation and earned her several awards, including the Provost Teaching Excellence Award and first place at the Gulf Coast Consortium Conference poster competition.

“Emily is fearless, self-motivated and pioneering,” Lekven said. “She doesn’t shy away from trying new things, and she consistently gets difficult protocols to work beautifully.”

Si Chen: Advancing Immunotherapy for MTAP-Loss Tumors

Si Chen, a Ph.D. candidate in the Center for Nuclear Receptors and Cell Signaling under the mentorship of Associate Professor Weiyi Peng, is investigating novel cancer therapies that enhance immune system responses. Her research focuses on MTAP-loss tumors, which often resist immunotherapy. Chen has demonstrated that a second-generation PRMT5 inhibitor, MRTX1719, can selectively target these tumors while preserving immune function. Her work integrates transcriptomic and proteomic analysis to reveal how the drug modulates cancer pathways.

Chen’s findings were recently published in The Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer and highlighted by the journal's editors. She has presented her work at several national conferences, including the American Association of Cancer Research’s annual meeting.

“Si consistently exceeds my expectations,” Peng said. “She will continue to contribute to biomedical research and become a great asset in cancer research community.”

Together, these students exemplify the high-caliber research conducted by graduate scholars in the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Their achievements reinforce UH’s commitment to advancing scientific knowledge and addressing real-world challenges through innovative research.

- Kristoffer Smith, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

May 6, 2025