UH Undergraduate Research and Major Awards

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UH Undergraduate Research and Major Awards The Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards is a clearinghouse for mentored research opportunities, national fellowships, and major awards advising.

OURMA serves the entire University of Houston undergraduate population. Conducting undergraduate research typically entails serving as a research assistant to a faculty member on an ongoing research project. This means student researchers will be responsible for one aspect of the professor's larger, existing research project. There are some students, however, who conceive of their own research ideas, and then this project is mentored by a faculty member.

Ali Irhabi, a sophomore finance major with minors in chemistry and biology, was one of ten fellows selected nationally t...
10/08/2026

Ali Irhabi, a sophomore finance major with minors in chemistry and biology, was one of ten fellows selected nationally to participate in the NIH-funded Cardiovascular Undergraduate Research Fellowship (UH-CURE) at the University of Houston this past summer. Working under the mentorship of Dr. Robert J. Schwartz and Dr. Dinakar Iyer, Ali’s research focuses on a major challenge in heart disease: the heart has very little ability to replace cells lost after injury. His lab developed engineered versions of two proteins, STEMIN and YAP5SA, that can help heart cells enter a more regenerative state. The lab also found that treated heart cells release tiny packages called exosomes, which carry protective signals to surrounding cells and can help prevent cell death.

Ali’s project tests whether these exosomes can protect human heart cells from different forms of injury, including damage caused by certain chemotherapy drugs. He also studies the cells in a 3D rotating bioreactor based on NASA technology, creating a model that more closely resembles how cells behave in the body. His preliminary results have been promising, and the long-term goal is to explore whether these exosomes could one day provide a simpler, less invasive way to protect damaged hearts, potentially through a transfusion-based therapy.

Ali was selected by the American Heart Association (AHA) as a 2026 Institutional Undergraduate Student Trainee and presented his research at the AHA BCVS National Conference in Boston. While in Boston, he delivered a flash talk at Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital, and his abstract underwent peer review through AHA. He also gave an oral presentation to the UH College of Pharmacy and delivered oral and poster presentations at the Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Symposium.

Ali continues to build on the project, taking greater ownership of his research and growing as an independent researcher. He has had the opportunity to work alongside world-class researchers in cardiovascular and translational medicine as he pursues his interest in becoming a physician-scientist. 💡 🔍

UH Bauer College
UH College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

This previous April, Reece Collins, a senior public health major and honors student, attended the 2026 American Associat...
10/07/2026

This previous April, Reece Collins, a senior public health major and honors student, attended the 2026 American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, to present her research focusing on triple-negative breast cancer and gain exposure to the latest advances in cancer research! Our office is glad to help make this travel possible with the Undergraduate Research Travel Fellowship✈️ 💡 🔍

The Honors College at the University of Houston
University of Houston College of Education

Kamryn Webster and Jessica Murray, both 2026 SURF recipients, recently shared about their summer research and experience...
10/06/2026

Kamryn Webster and Jessica Murray, both 2026 SURF recipients, recently shared about their summer research and experience in this article about the program! Read 'UH Students SURF Towards Success' by Mike Emery here: https://bit.ly/3VQ0a2w

📚Don't get lost in the literature review! On Friday, October 23 from 2-3pm, join the Office of Undergraduate Research an...
10/05/2026

📚Don't get lost in the literature review! On Friday, October 23 from 2-3pm, join the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards for this Demystifying the Literature Review webinar. In this hour, you will learn what a literature review is, why it's important for your research, and tips to get started. To register for this webinar, visit our website linked in the bio or though uh.edu/OURMAevents 📅

Meet Patrick Curran, a mechanical engineering major and 2026 Energy Scholar!Patrick's research tests the capabilities an...
10/02/2026

Meet Patrick Curran, a mechanical engineering major and 2026 Energy Scholar!

Patrick's research tests the capabilities and functionality of solar power integrated canopy structures built using decommissioned wind turbine blades as a structure support. The main focus of Patrick's research aims to create a definitive outlook on the temperature decreasing properties, energy production, and the usefulness of built solar structures, which could allow for greater population usage of areas often deemed too hot to use like parks and sidewalks. Additionally, they will provide relief to visitors and tourists in the metropolitan area of Houston while decreasing the urban heat island effect. By utilizing decommissioned wind turbine blades, Patrick believes that the repurposing of decommissioned wind turbine blades is the next step to the continued use of renewable energy resources. 💡 🔍

UH Cullen College of Engineering

"This summer I had the opportunity to contribute to an American Heart Association implementation study at UH focused on ...
09/30/2026

"This summer I had the opportunity to contribute to an American Heart Association implementation study at UH focused on adapting the Target: BP hypertension guidelines in Healthcare for the Homeless–Houston (HHH) clinics. As part of the project, I conducted chart reviews to collect data on patients’ blood pressure management and healthcare utilization, giving me firsthand experience with how clinical data can be used to evaluate and improve care for populations experiencing homelessness.

One of the most meaningful parts of my summer was attending the HHH Health & Housing Summit. Hearing from healthcare professionals, researchers, social workers, and community organizations about the impact of housing instability on health and access to care helped me better understand the broader context behind the research I was contributing to.

I am incredibly grateful to SURF and UH OURMA for fueling the start of my undergraduate research journey. I also want to thank my mentor, Dr. Ben King, and the rest of the team at the COM for guiding and inspiring me throughout the summer. I look forward to continuing my research with the team and building on everything I learned through SURF!"

Meet Zainah Fatima, a sophomore honors student majoring in biotechnology who participated in SURF this summer! 💡 🔍

The Honors College at the University of Houston
UH Cullen College of Engineering

Congratulations to Dr. Rikki Bettinger, Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards, for receiving...
09/29/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Rikki Bettinger, Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research and Major Awards, for receiving a 2026 President's Excellence Award for Leadership Excellence! Dr. Bettinger was nominated for demonstrating excellence in work performance, commitment to institutional success, proactive problem solving, collaboration and service, and embodiment of university values. She was awarded by President Khator at the Staff Excellence Awards on September 23, 2026.

“Rikki is the consummate professional, so it was a no-brainer to nominate her for the President's Excellence Award in Leadership. Her initiative, thoughtfulness, and incredible work ethic are an inspiration to colleagues and students alike,” writes Dr. Ben Rayder, Assistant Dean of Undergraduate Research, Major Awards, and Learning Abroad/Away. “I'm pleased that the entire university can see what we have known for years about Rikki: she is an outstanding colleague and person who makes a difference every day at the University of Houston.”

Please join our office in celebrating Dr. Bettinger on her award, alongside the extraordinary work she has done to earn it!

"Last week I presented my first peer-reviewed paper at TSD 2026 in Brno, Czech Republic. Presenting was a milestone in i...
09/21/2026

"Last week I presented my first peer-reviewed paper at TSD 2026 in Brno, Czech Republic. Presenting was a milestone in itself, but the part I keep coming back to is what it felt like to be part of a research community for the first time.

As a second-year undergraduate, I didn’t expect to feel like I belonged in that room, but I did, and I’m grateful this is the community I’m building toward. This trip was made possible in part by the University of Houston’s Undergraduate Research Travel Fellowship, and by MasterWord Services. I’m especially thankful to my co-authors, Soeren Eberhardt and my faculty mentor at UH, Arjun Mukherjee, who first brought me into this work."

Meet Alexander Chulzhanov, a sophomore computer science major, who presented his research on low-resource Mayan language machine translation at the 2026 International Conference on Text, Speech, and Dialogue in Brno, Czech Republic! While here, Alex was struck by how many people were working on the same core problems from different angles on languages across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and found that building necessary tools demands increased creativity and collaboration. OURMA is happy to help support students like Alex with the Undergraduate Research Travel Fellowship!✈️. 💡 🔍

UH College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics (NSM)

"My summer research at SURF has allowed me to understand how to conduct a successful ethnography. I learned how to build...
09/18/2026

"My summer research at SURF has allowed me to understand how to conduct a successful ethnography. I learned how to build rapport and trust when holding interviews. I also learned how to represent women’s stories in a way that was accurate and consistent with their personal narratives, and deconstruct my personal biases. This project allowed me to look at South and West Asian diaspora communities from a macroscopic lens, and identify structural barriers that we could reform."

This summer Adeen Asim completed an ethnography, interviewing South and West Asian women from Muslim backgrounds about their pursuit of medicine. A sophomore honors student majoring in Anthropology on a pre-medical track, Adeen shares: “The population I studied sits at the intersection of all three demographics, making their identity complex and under-represented. Through this ethnography I hope to center marginalized and under-represented voices, in order to understand the power dynamics in play in today’s zeitgeist.” 💡 🔍

The Honors College at the University of Houston
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at UH

Are you interested in learning a language abroad and a career in public service? Join this Boren Awards Information Sess...
09/18/2026

Are you interested in learning a language abroad and a career in public service? Join this Boren Awards Information Session to hear from Sara Chow, a program officer with the Boren Awards, and learn about the scholarship and fellowship programs that can help make this possible. Register at www.uh.edu/OURMAevents

Event Date: September 25, 2026
Event Time: 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Location, Rm. 212J of the Honors College, located on the second floor of the MD Anderson Library accessible from the right hand side staircase or elevator in the main entrance foyer.

About the Boren Awards: The Boren Awards fund the intensive study of language and culture abroad in locations that are critical to U.S. national security. Undergraduate Scholars and graduate Fellows can either apply for a Regional Flagship Language Initiative or self-identify their own study program. Boren Scholars can receive up to $25,000 and fellows up to $30,000 in awards. Recipients are eligible for exclusive opportunities and preferential consideration for federal government jobs.

Interested in Applying? Contact Dr. Ben Rayder ([email protected]), Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Research, Major Awards, and Learning Abroad/Away.

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Houston, TX
77204

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