Researcher of the Month October 2024

Yuu-u (Loy) Hashimoto

Major: Biology

Yuu-U (“Loy”) Hashimoto is a junior majoring in biology, with a minor in applied mathematics and statistics. Since March of this year, she has been working under the mentorship of Dr. Eugene Serebryany (Dept. of Physiology & Biophysics) to investigate protein aggregation in the eye lens and a potential non-surgical treatment involving a metabolite in the human eye lens known as myo-inositol. Based on her URECA application and proposal to study “The mechanism of myo-inositol in HgD-NtD crystallin aggregation,” Loywas one of two students from the pool of 2024 URECA summer applicants to be awarded the prestigious Chhabra-URECA Fellowship that provides summer undergraduate research funding and recognizes students with a passion for research. 

Research Mentors:  Dr. Eugene Serebryany, Physiology & Biophysics (current); Dr. Natasha Vitek, Ecology & Evolution (previous)