Honors College Senior Danielle Saint Hilaire Wins Presidential Award for Undergraduate Research

Honors College senior Danielle Saint Hilaire has been selected as a recipient of the 2020-2021 Presidential Award for Undergraduate Research at the University at Albany, for her honors thesis, "Genetic Approaches for the Cell-Specific Deletion of the Neuronal Glutamate Transporter EAAC1." This important University-wide competitive award is established to recognize undergraduate research and scholarship and recipients will receive a certificate and plaque to commemorate this honor.

Danielle is a senior biology major and neuroscience minor. She currently works as an undergraduate researcher in Dr. Scimemi’s lab where they study the neuronal mechanisms underlying mouse models of neurodegenerative disease and OCD. Danielle has been sharing her work. She presented in February at the NEURON Conference hosted by the University of Connecticut and Quinnipiac University, and will be presenting at the 18th Annual Student Conference here at UAlbany, in addition to presenting her honors thesis at the annual Biology Research Symposium at the end of April. She has also received the Sorrell Chessin Research Award and two grants for the lab — the Moyer Research Fund and the Greenwald Research Fund.

Danielle has been a member of the Honors College since Spring of 2019, which is also when she was certified as an EMT. Danielle volunteers weekly at the Town of Hoosick Rescue Squad where she runs calls and trains incoming EMTs (if you’re interested in this, please send her an email!). On campus, she’s the Treasurer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), a newly established club that provides support and education for those living with mental illness. She’s also a member of Cru, a loving community that is passionate about sharing Jesus with the world! Although she is sad to go, Danielle is graduating from UAlbany in May and will be taking a gap year before she attends medical school in the Fall of 2022. She is so grateful for all the opportunities UAlbany has given her, and she is looking forward to her future as she steps into a career in medicine.