Viewers Choice Award Winners from the VIP/CURE Poster Session

The University of Arizona's annual Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) and Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) Poster Session brought together students, faculty, staff, and campus leaders this April to celebrate the impact of undergraduate research. The event showcased student-led research spanning disciplines across the university, highlighting the creativity, collaboration, and innovation that define Arizona's growing culture of undergraduate research.

Attendees of the VIP/CURE Poster Session voted for posters that they felt were most engaging. Congratulations to this year's recipients:

• “E.coli AlkB on DNA Repair” presented by Nikyla Ekberg and Tara L. Archuleta, Ph.D., M.Ed. from the CURE course BIOC296B Introduction to Biochemical Research
• “Molecular Detection of Cyclospora cayetanensis in Surface Waters from Produce-Growing Regions in Arizona” presented by Korina Loya, Amadia Molina, Mario Esteban Romero, Khai Truong, Debbie Schaefer, and Gerardo U. Lopez from the VIP Team Investigating The Foodborne Parasite Cyclospora In Environmental Waters
• “Flute Performance Studies CURE/VIP: Yollocuicatl, the 2026 Premiere Prix Morceau de Concours Process Showcasing Creation, Performance, and Productivity in the Music of Justino Pérez, BM, MM, U of A PhD 2029” presented by Candice Liu, Flutist and Jialiang Li, Pianist from the CURE course MUS 485: Applied Flute Studies