Va. Tech honors Gallegos, Truong, Marine

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology members Sara Gallegos, Eric Truong and Sasha Marine were recognized by Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the 2023 commencement ceremony in May.

Sara Gallegos, Eric Truong and Sasha Marine

Gallegos received the Madelynn Todd Trailblazer Award, Truong received the Ut Prosim Award, and Marine received an Academy of Teaching Excellence Award. These awards honor achievements including undergraduate teaching and research, diversity and inclusion, and leadership.

Gallegos is an undergraduate in biochemistry. She conducts computational research with Anne Brown, an associate professor of research and informatics, studying protein aggregation in Alzheimer's and Type II diabetes. Gallegos was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute student fellow and leader. In this role, she advocated for diversity, equity and inclusion for underrepresented groups within the biochemistry department.

Truong graduated this year with a degree in biochemistry. He conducts research on the gut microbiome with Lijuan Yuan, a professor of virology and immunology. Truong has been a biochemistry peer mentor and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences ambassador.

Marine is a collegiate assistant professor in the biochemistry department at Virginia Tech. She conducts research on the impact of topic order on student-self-efficacy and performance, and leads a summer undergraduate research program on translational plant sciences and food security. Marine is passionate about science and undergraduate education.