Dartmouth College has awarded Lauren Kingsley ‘04 a Beckman Scholarship. As an intern in the laboratory of Dartmouth Medical School toxicologist Joshua Hamilton, Lauren has been investigating the effect of arsenic on cancer cell growth, research that she will continue through the next academic year with the support of this scholarship. Her research focuses on the chemical and structural basis of arsenic’s interaction with a specific hormone receptor within the cell that may contribute to the ability of arsenic to increase risk of cancer, diabetes and other diseases. She is planning to culminate her undergraduate research in a Senior Honors Thesis. Lauren is one of three students selected as Beckman Scholars this year from a talented pool within the Dartmouth community.

Funded by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, the national Beckman Scholars Program was established in 1977 to provide grants for select institutions to develop fellowship, mentoring and training programs that support their exceptional young scientists who are pursuing independent research projects. Dartmouth was one of 15 institutions nationwide chosen through a highly competitive process to receive a five-year Beckman Scholars grant. Institutions receive the grants on the basis of the quality of, and institutional commitment to, undergraduate research programs in chemistry and the biological sciences, as well as the caliber of students and faculty.

A resident of Hershey, Pennsylvania, Lauren is in her junior year at Dartmouth, majoring in biophysical chemistry. She has previously been awarded a WISP fellowship, the first annual Barbara Krute Memorial Fellowship and a Presidential Scholarship in support of her research. She was also the recent recipient of a Tucker Foundation fellowship for a term of off-campus internship combining her interests in community health and outreach. She plans to pursue an MD/Ph.D. degree and continue her career in academic research medicine.

Audrey Campbell
CEHS Science Writing Intern