Each year, the Department of Biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis awards a prize to a graduating senior in memory of Marion Smith Spector, a 1938 graduate who studied zoology under the late Viktor Hamburger. The Spector Prize, first awarded in 1974, recognizes academic excellence and outstanding undergraduate achievement in research. Students are nominated by their research mentors for outstanding research that has made substantial contributions to a field.
This year’s winner, Angelina O’Brien, is a Biology major with specialization in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, and a minor in Computer Science. Her thesis research Targeting Type I IFN Signaling to Treat CDK4/6 Inhibitor-Resistant ER+ Breast Cancer was completed in the Weber Lab.
In his nomination letter, Jason D. Weber, Professor of Medicine at WUSM, wrote, “Angelina has been a true pleasure to have in the lab. She will certainly make additional strides to becoming an independent scientist and well-rounded person as she progresses through graduate school. She has the right attitude, ambition, and know-how to achieve anything she wants. I believe that she will continue her upward trajectory in the biomedical sciences and grow into not only an outstanding scientist but mature and compassionate individual.”
O’Brien says, “I am very honored to be selected as the winner of the 2025 Spector Prize. The educational and research opportunities at WashU have played a fundamental role in my growth as a scientist. I am incredibly proud of the work that I have completed in the Weber Lab, and I am committed to advancing the field of biology in my future career. I would like to thank Dr. Jason Weber for his continued support and commitment to my work in his lab. I would also like to thank Alex Mabry and Dr. Jim Skeath for their mentorship throughout my undergraduate career.”
Honorable mentions for the Spector Prize include Pema Childs for her work in Robert Kranz’s lab, Jasmine Sun for her work in B. Duygu Özpolat’s lab, and Leanne Le for her work in Gaya Amarasinghe’s lab. All Spector Prize winners will present their research in a special seminar, and will receive a prize and formal acknowledgement at a celebration of biology honors and research emphasis students in May.
