Akshaya Warrier was named University of Iowa’s Student Employee of the Year in the Science, Health & Engineering category.

Warrier started working as a research assistant in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology under the mentorship of Ric Devor, PhD, when she was a freshman.

“Akshaya has been my right hand since she started,” Ric says. “She, essentially, runs the lab–she knows all of the protocols and does all of the cell work.”

Warrier, currently a senior at the University of Iowa, will graduate in May 2018 with a double major in microbiology and human physiology. After graduation, the Bettendorf native hopes to pursue a dual doctoral degree for physician-scientists.

“I knew I wanted to go into medicine, so I decided to try research and Ric helped me fall in love with it,” Warrier says. “These have been the best three years of my life."