Leah Byrne, a candidate for May graduation from Hamilton College, has been awarded a J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship for study at the Karolinska Universitet in Stockholm, Sweden. Byrne's project is titled, "Locating Endogenous Nitrated Neurotransmitters: A Study in Immunocytochemistry."
The purpose of the Fulbright grants is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries through the exchange of persons, knowledge and skills. The grants are funded through an annual appropriation made by Congress to the U.S. Department of State and by foreign governments, universities, corporations and private donors. The J. William Fulbright Scholarship Board, composed of 12 educational and public leaders appointed by the president of the United States, establishes criteria for selecting candidates and has the final authority for awarding the grants.
The U.S. Students Program is designed to give recent B.S./B.A. graduates and master's and doctoral candidates opportunities for personal development and international experience.
Byrne, who hopes to go on to medical school after her year in Sweden, will be studying the little understood phenomenon of neurotransmitter nitration, or modification by nitric oxide, in the laboratory of Professor Tomas Hokfelt, who heads the Chemical Neurotransmission division in the department of neuroscience at Karolinska Universitet. The implications of locating endogenous nitrated transmitters may be far-reaching and include the treatment of disease. Professor Hokfelt has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 1984 and is known for his work with neurotransmitters and their distribution within the vertebrate system and for his work with immunochemical analysis.
A neuroscience major at Hamilton, Byrne is a graduate of James A. Garfield High School in Garrettsville, OH. While at Hamilton, she has been a member of the Dean's List; a resident advisor; a member of Psi Chi, the national honor society in psychology; member of the women's varsity volleyball team, and named to the NESCAC All-Academic team. She is also the recipient of a Hamilton Senior Fellowship, which allows her to pursue an independent in-depth project during her senior year. She is the daughter of Stephanie and Joseph Byrne of Garrettsville, OH.
