UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Two graduate students, Kristin Lambert, doctoral student in biomedical sciences pursuing a joint degree in medicine from Penn State College of Medicine, and Christina Webb, doctoral student in psychology, received the Penn State Alumni Association Scholarship for Penn State Alumni in the Graduate School during the annual Graduate Student Awards Luncheon held on April 25 at the Nittany Lion Inn.
The purpose of the Penn State Alumni Association Scholarship for Penn State Alumni in the Graduate School is to provide recognition and financial assistance to students who have been admitted to the Graduate School as candidates for a graduate degree, who demonstrate academic excellence, and who received their undergraduate degree from the University.
Lambert is enrolled in the M.D./Ph.D. joint degree program at the College of Medicine. She received a bachelor’s degree in immunology and infectious disease from the College of Agricultural Sciences in May 2014.
For her doctoral dissertation project in biomedical sciences, Lambert is investigating inflammatory dysfunction in response to allergens. Her research broadly addresses how cells of the immune system communicate with the lining of the airway, causing the persistent chronic inflammation observed in asthma.
Lambert is president of the medical school’s Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Interest Group. She has led multiple courses for medical students related to pulmonary function test interpretation, skin testing, Epi-pen administration and asthma outreach.
A doctoral student in psychology, Webb received a bachelor’s degree in the same field in May 2013. Her research focuses on gaining an understanding of memory processes in older adults, with an emphasis on how age-related memory differences are mediated by changes in the brain.
Specifically, Webb is interested in how older adults make memory errors and ways to mitigate these errors, in order to improve memory and the quality of life as individuals’ age.
Webb first joined the Cognitive Aging and Neuroimaging Lab as a research assistant when she was a sophomore at Penn State. One nominator noted that her aptitude for research and neuroimaging methods has enabled her to make significant contributions to collaborations with researchers in other departments.