Mackenzie Spicer, a graduate student in Dr. Rory Fisher's laboratory won the People's Choice Award and Honorable Mention at the 3 Minute Thesis Competition of the UI Graduate College.  One of thirteen finalists, she competed in the final round on Friday, November 15 in the Art Building West, presenting her talk on "Moving Forward in Movement Disorders: Discovering New Tools to Study Parkinson’s Disease".

Mackenzie is a third-year Molecular Medicine graduate student doing her thesis research in Neuroscience and Pharmacology.  She graduated with a B.A. in Biology in 2017 from Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana. Mackenzie’s passion for research sparked when she conducted research for 3 years under the guidance of Dr. Brian Gall during her time at Hanover, leading her towards the path of graduate school. Mackenzie’s current research focuses on identifying the mechanisms that underlie the development of Parkinson’s disease.

The 3 Minute Thesis Competition challenges graduate students to communicate their research in three minutes or less in non-specialist language. Learn more about all the finalists on the finalist spotlight website.

Congratulations, Mackenzie!