Quansah named 2024 Young Investigator Awardee by the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine

Darius Quansah, a doctoral student in the laboratory of Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor Dr. Jonathan Geiger, is one of only 10 student researchers nationwide to have been named a 2024 Young Investigator Awardee by the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine (SEBM). The award includes a total of $800 to help students cover travel and publication/printing costs.

Quansah was given the award at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine recently, where he also won first prize for his poster.

“At the meeting, I presented my work titled ‘BACE-1 inhibitor drugs-induced neurotoxicity is associated with endolysosome dysfunction and activation of inter-organelle stress responses,’ and my poster won first place,” Quansah said of his research into Alzheimer’s disease and HIV-1-associated neurocognitive disorders. “Winning both awards separately at the meeting is solid evidence that my work under the guidance of my advisor, Dr. Geiger, is relevant and contributes significantly to the field. It is exciting news to me and further encourages me to work harder.”

Quansah was also given the Departmental Impact Award recently by faculty of the UND School of Medicine & Health Sciences the Department of Biomedical Sciences.

“I am grateful to God for the gift of life and strength to keep working,” Quansah added. “I also want to thank my advisor, Dr. Jonathan Geiger as well as Dr. Colin Combs, Dr. Ken Ruit, Dr. Holly Brown-Borg, Dr. Xuesong Chen, and Dr. Thad Rosenberger, who have consistently supported my training and development.”

Quansah said that his next step is to look for therapeutic alternatives for neurodegenerative disorders that avoid causing direct damage to cells and block amyloid beta-induced damage to endolysosomes.

“There’s definitely a lot of exciting news to share as we make more progress,” he said.