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Connecticut College senior wins NSF Graduate Research Fellowship

Editor: A color, hi-res photo of Laura Frawley is available here: http://aspen.conncoll.edu/camelweb/index.cfm?fuseaction=images&circuit=view&id=199567710 NEW LONDON, Conn. - Senior Laura Frawley, a Biological Sciences major at Connecticut College, has been awarded a 2010 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, which will provide her with a $30,000 research stipend each year for up to three years. Connecticut College President Leo I. Higdon Jr. congratulated Frawley, a resident of Needham, Mass., in an email announcing the award to the campus community. "This is a remarkable achievement for Laura that brings national recognition to our biology department and underscores the excellence of science education at the college," he said. "I am so very proud of all that she has accomplished during her four years here," he added. As the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines, has a long history of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers. Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners, U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Google founder Sergey Brin. Frawley, a 2009 Goldwater Scholar, is particularly interested in the mechanisms of cancer and hopes to conduct oncological research in an academic setting. Next year, she will work as a lab technician investigating the genetic events that contribute to the development of cancer at The David H. Koch Institution for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT. She plans to attend graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in molecular biology beginning in the fall of 2011. At Connecticut College, Frawley has logged more than 500 hours of research with Biology Professor Martha Grossel, who specializes in understanding unchecked cellular division. "I was first exposed to research in Dr. Grossel´s lab," Frawley said. "Dr. Grossel has been an excellent mentor throughout my four years at Connecticut College. She has provided me with guidance and encouragement not only for my scientific research, but also for my future goals." Frawley said she is honored to receive the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and credits those who have helped her succeed in her undergraduate education. "None of this would be possible if it weren´t for my professors, mentors and everyone who helped me at Connecticut College," she said. About Connecticut College Situated on the coast of southern New England, Connecticut College is a highly selective private liberal arts college with 1900 students from all across the country and throughout the world. On the college´s 750-acre arboretum campus overlooking Long Island Sound, students and faculty create a vibrant social, cultural and intellectual community enriched by diverse perspectives. The college, founded in 1911, is known for its unique combination of interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu. -CC-



May 17, 2010