Benjamin J. Weidemann, a University of Iowa junior working in the laboratory of Dr. Justin L. Grobe, has been awarded an "Undergraduate Research Excellence Fellowship" from the American Physiological Society (APS). Through this very prestigious award (only six awarded annually by the APS), Ben will receive a $4,000 stipend to continue his work over the summer of 2013, a $300 unrestricted research grant, and a $1,300 travel award to attend and present his data at the Experimental Biology 2014 conference (April 26-30, 2014) in San Diego, CA. Ben's ongoing research includes studies into the role of the brain renin-angiotensin system in glycemic control, and the optimization of both bomb calorimetry and high performance liquid chromatography / mass spectrometry methods through collaborations with Dr. Renee S. Cole and Dr. Lynn M. Teesch in the Department of Chemistry.

From the APS website (http://www.the-aps.org/ugref): The Undergraduate Research Excellence Fellowships program funds 6 full-time undergraduate students with significant prior laboratory research experience to work for 10 weeks during the summer in the laboratory of an established APS investigator. Each student has his/her own research question to work on during the summer. The intent of this program is to encourage students to pursue a career as a basic research scientist. In addition, Fellows receive a travel grant to allow them to attend and present their research data at the following year's APS annual meeting, Experimental Biology (EB). EB is a broad-based scientific meeting of 5-7 diverse biological scientific societies that are members of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). There are many opportunities for the students to mingle with other undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers at the meeting. In addition, there are hundreds of scientific presentations and posters they can attend. The Undergraduate Research Excellence Fellowship program was established in 2012 as an initiative of the Career Opportunities in Physiology Committee and APS Council and is supported in full by the APS.