Sara Coulup, CU Boulder undergraduate, and recent recipient of the American Association for Cancer Research Thomas J. Bardos Science Education Award

University of Colorado Boulder junior and Colorado native, Sara Coulup, is one of ten students nationally to receive the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Thomas J. Bardos Science Education Award. Coulup is also a Norlin Scholar – a program meant to retain Colorado’s top high school students at Colorado universities. She works in the lab of Hubert Yin, PhD, investigator at the University of Colorado Cancer Center and assistant professor of biochemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder.

At the upcoming AACR conference in Chicago, IL, Coulup will present the results of her work with a device that detects the biomarkers of metastatic cancer. Basically, the device detects peptides – small proteins – that signal the presence of metastatic cancer, potentially leading to earlier diagnosis and thus more effective treatment.

“Sara’s sensor-detector is a step toward convenient detection of metastatic cancer,” Yin says. “She’s a spectacular student and I hope as her studies progress to influence her to stay with cancer research!”