Magdalene Ameka, a graduate student in Dr. Matt Potthoff’s laboratory won the People’s Choice Award at the 3 Minute Thesis Competition of the UI Graduate College. One of sixteen finalists, she competed in the final round in November in the Art Building West, presenting a talk that described her thesis research entitled “Lose the Weight by Ignoring the Fat.”

Magdalene, is a third year Molecular and Cellular Biology Program graduate student doing her thesis research in Pharmacology. She came to the US from Kenya in 2006, and received a Bachelors’ degree in 2009 from the University of Houston in Biochemistry and Biophysical Sciences. She is currently working to understand how the liver-derived hormone fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) regulates energy homeostasis. In whatever free time grad school allows her, she likes to be outdoors enjoying good food, good wine and good music. 

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.