Yonathan Ararso, a biology major in the class of 2013, was recently awarded the Samuel S. Jones Phi Beta Kappa Award for original research at Hampden-Sydney’s 2013 Commencement Ceremony.  The award, in the form of a gold medallion and a $4,000.00 cash prize, is one of the most prestigious and lucrative awards given at college and university graduations across the country.  Yonathan received the award for his Senior Honors Project in Biology entitled “An shRNA-mediate RNA Silencing Approach to Understand the Role of Melanoma-derived Factors in the Suppression of Dendritic Cell Maturation and Activation.”  He conducted his project under the mentorship of Dr. Kristian M. Hargadon ’01, Elliott Assistant Professor of Biology.  Yonathan plans to pursue graduate education and will be applying to M.D./Ph.D. programs in the fall.

Yonathan receiving the Jones Prize from Provost and Dean of the Faculty Dennis Stevens