Research Accolades Humble Honors’ Brianna Berg

When award-winning undergraduate researcher Brianna Berg is outside of the lab, she’s connecting with her community.

Berg is the president of the WSU Chemistry Club, a tutor in organic chemistry, and helps anatomy students in the cadaver lab. She’s also a member of the Team Mentoring Program, which aims to maximize the experience of international and minority students studying in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields at WSU.

And when she’s in the lab? She’s pursuing great success.

Berg was one of just 10 undergraduate students in the country—and the first ever WSU student—selected to receive the Thomas J. Bardos Science Education Award, which is given via the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

The award is for third-year, full-time students majoring in science fields. It encourages them to enter into cancer research, according to the AACR website. The award provides the researcher with a stipend to attend two AACR meetings.

As part of the award, Berg presented her research at the 2014 AACR annual meeting in San Diego April 5-9. She will also attend the 2015 AACR meeting in Philadelphia.

“It’s astonishing,” Berg said. “It hasn’t quite hit. This is a great opportunity, and to have my research recognized as important is truly gratifying.”

The opportunity to interconnect with 18,000 other researchers, academics and students at the meeting was invaluable, Berg said.

“(Attendees) thought my research was really well thought out. I received a great many insightful tips to continue my research in different manners, from a number of people with quite a bit more research experience than I have,” she said.

She said the feedback from researchers, graduate students, doctors and more was tremendous.

Targeting Prostate Cancer in the Lab

Berg is biochemistry and chemistry major and a member of the WSU Honors College. She works in the laboratory of Jonel Saludes in the Department of Chemistry, researching a biomarker protein that is highly expressed in prostate cancer.

In March she shared her findings at the WSU-wide Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA). Her poster presentation described research titled, “The Isolated Transmembrane Domain of Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen is Capable of Oligomerization;” co-authors are graduate student Brandon Cook and Saludes, in collaboration with Professor Cliff Berkman. Judges and hundreds of attendees came through and grilled the researchers on their work.

“I received valuable feedback from judges and the presenting experience aided me greatly in San Diego (at the AACR meeting),” Berg said of her experience at SURCA. She presented the same poster at both events.

WSU and Honors College connections

The opportunity to connect with others was also part of why Berg selected WSU.

A Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, native, Berg liked that the university was close to home — and a good size campus for her.

“I loved the campus and all of the people,” she said. “Everyone was incredibly friendly and welcoming and the environment was excellent.”

She was invited to join the Honors College, and has enjoyed it.

“I’ve found it incredibly valuable,” she said. “I really appreciate that it incorporates a global perspective.”

Berg’s research has increased her visibility on campus, including articles in The Daily Evergreen and The Moscow-Pullman Daily News. But she doesn’t feel like a celebrity.

“Ironically, it is a very humbling feeling,” she said of the attention. “It is still fairly exciting and unbelievable that I received this honor, but I don’t feel anything other than personal pride for having my research recognized and seeing my hard work pay off in a large way.”

Investments in Berg; her investments in others

Berg has received WSU scholarships to support her undergraduate research. She won an Auvil Scholars Fellowship from the WSU Undergraduate Research Program, and she is a Boeing Cyber Grant Scholar.

She plans to attend medical school when she graduates, but not before investing some of her time and energy to further her global perspective through hands-on experience.

“I plan to take a gap year and participate in a medical mission trip to Nepal or Honduras after graduation,” Berg said.

“I’ve always wanted to do a medical mission trip to get out and help people. I want to go throughout the world and practice medicine, get a broader view of the field, and gather a more global context.”

Soon, Berg’s connections will circle the world.