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L.B. Sims Outstanding Master's Thesis Award in the Biological Science


November 18, 2015

Nicholas Borcherding Receives the LB Sims Award

Nicholas Borcherding, BS, MS, was recently awarded the University of Iowa L.B. Sims Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award in the Biological Sciences. Nick was a graduate student in the Pathology MS Program from 2012-2014, and completed his thesis entitled “Non-canonical WNT Signaling in Breast Cancer Initiation and Progression” under the guidance of Dr. Weizhou Zhang. The award is conferred by the Graduate College and Mr. Borcherding will be honored for his achievement at the James F. Jakobsen Graduate Research Conference on Saturday, March 28, 2016. As winner of the award, Nick’s thesis will also be submitted to the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools (MAGS) Distinguished Thesis Award competition, the winner of which will be decided upon in late February.

In addition to the Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award, Mr. Borcherding’s thesis work was published earlier this year in Cancer Research, the most highly cited journal in the cancer field. Upon completing the Pathology MS Program, Nick entered the University of Iowa Medical Scientist Training Program and is currently an M2 student. This is the third consecutive Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award for the Pathology Graduate Program.