Nick Imperiale initially became interested in cancer research during the summer of 2019, when he worked on a meta analysis that examined the sensitivity and specificity of the Fecal Immunochemical Test in different parts of the colon.

His interest in Drosophila (fruit fly) research developed during the 2020 spring semester while he was enrolled in Professor Brian Calvi’s genetics course. He gained an appreciation for the model organism as a powerful tool to study biochemical pathways with which humans have a high degree of conservation.

Now, Nick is doing bench work in the Calvi lab with Hunter Herriage—a Ph.D. student in the IU Genome, Cell, and Developmental Biology Graduate Program—studying endocycle induction in Drosophila ovaries and its relation to human cancers. He hopes to continue this work for the remainder of his undergraduate career and possibly in a post-undergraduate setting.

Nick is grateful to the Hanes family for organizing the scholarship. He is very appreciative of their generosity and is excited to hear about future recipients of this award.