News and Achievements


August 2024

  • Congratulations to our undergraduate students for presenting their awesome, productive summer work at the Summer Undergraduate Research Fest (SURF) 2024 – Munachiso Nkeonye-Mbaekwe, Enya Caballero, Gelila Isayas, Adithya Iyer, Eduardo Ramirez!
  • Claudia and Zach won the GSA Research Grant award. Congratulations!

July 2024

  • Claudia Gualtieri just got back from an amazing experience at the Marine Biological Institute in Woods Hole, Massachusetts! Great job for expanding your research skills and experience. We’re so proud of you!

April 2024


March 2024

  • Anthony Rosenthal presented his work at the Drosophila Neuroscience Colloquium at the National Institute of Health (NIH). Great job, Anthony!

January 2024

  • Zachary Smith presented his work at the Drosophila Neuroscience Colloquium at the National Institute of Health (NIH). Way to go, Zach!
  • Justine Anne won the GSA Research Grant award. Congratulations!

November 2023

  • Congratulations to Justine Anne Guevarra for passing her prelim! The title of her project is “Investigating the Role of Amyloid Precursor Protein-Like in Aging-Dependent Degeneration in Drosophila melanogaster.” Great work, Justine Anne! We are proud of you!

September 2023

  • Congratulations to our undergraduate student, Inioluwa Oluseyi, for being chosen as the first recipient of the Thomas F. Roth Research Award! Keep up the great work! (News Article)
  • Our graduate students, Claudia Gualtieri and Zachary Smith, presented their work at the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) in Granada, Spain. Excellent job, Claudia and Zach! We’re so proud of you!

August 2023

  • Congratulations to our awesome undergraduate students for presenting their summer-long terrific work at the Summer Undergraduate Research Fest (SURF) 2023 – Munachiso Nkeonye-Mbaekwe, Shreya Singh, Sophia Conrad, Solom Harraz, Adekemi Sobukunola!
  • Claudia Gualtieri discussed her research with the members of the Colloca Lab at the University of Maryland Baltimore. Great work, Claudia!

July 2023

  • Dr. Vonhoff and graduate student, Zachary Smith, provided a “Little Library” to the kids of the Peace Park Camp in Catonsville. What an awesome way to reach out to the community and share science to the young ones!

June 2023

  • Anthony Rosenthal officially joins the lab as a new Ph.D. student. Welcome, Anthony!

May 2023

  • Congratulations, Dr. Vonhoff, for being chosen as the recipient of the 2023 Black/Latine/x Excellence Award! We are so proud of you!
  • Congratulations, Claudia, for receiving the Best Poster Award at the MyDEV2023 Meeting at the University of Milan. Way to go!
  • Congratulations to all our senior undergraduates: Heba Bakry, Katrina Bucci, Anne Cecile Choutedjem Kamgue Nkamougna, Dina Hadj-Mabrouk, Joana Hernandez, Simeon Nelson, and Danielle Wilson!
  • Congratulations, Claudia, for being selected for the 2022 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award from the Department of Biological Sciences!

April 2023

  • Dr. Fernando Vonhoff and Claudia Gualtieri collaborated with Dr. Michelle Starz-Gaiano on a poster about teaching upper-level biology courses. They presented it at the 7th Annual Provost’s Teaching & Learning Symposium at UMBC. Cool stuff!
  • Congratulations to our undergraduates for their awesome presentations at URCAD – Simeon Nelson, Eva Stanley/Francesca Burton, Katrina Bucci, Christina Shrestha, Anne-Cecile Choutedjem. Great work everyone!

December 2022

  • Claudia Gualtieri presented her work at the Drosophila Neuroscience Colloquium at the National Institute of Health (NIH). Way to go, Claudia!

November 2022

  • Check out our newest publication for the Vonhoff Lab at UMBC in the Frontiers for Young Minds Journal (DOI:10.3389/frym.2022.778999). Congratulations to Claudia Gualtieri; Zachary Smith; Abby Cruz; Crystal Parry; and Dr. Fernando Vonhoff!
  • Eva Stanley presented her poster at the 2022 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minorized Scientists (ABRCMS) in Anaheim, California. Great work, Eva!
  • Congratulations to Zachary Smith for passing his prelim! The title of his project is “Investigating the Role of Amyloid Precursor Protein-Like’s Intracellular Domain in Neuronal Development.” Great work, Zach! We are proud of you!

October 2022

  • Congratulations to our amazing mentor, Dr. Fernando Vonhoff, for being one of the recipients of the LHFA (Latino/Hispanic Faculty Association) award! What an honor to work with you!

September 2022

  • Congratulations to Claudia Gualtieri for passing her prelim! The title of her project is “Investigating the Roles of Candidate Autism Genes in Synaptic Pruning in Drosophila melanogaster.” Great work, Claudia! We are proud of you!
  • Check out our newest micropublication for the Vonhoff Lab at UMBC in the microPublication Biology Journal (DOI:10.17912/micropub.biology.000642). Congratulations to Naphtali Remy; Justine Anne Guevarra; and Dr. Fernando Vonhoff!

June 2022

  • Check out our newest publication for the Vonhoff Lab at UMBC in the Frontiers Journal (DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2022.702901). Congratulations to Adeola Oyeyinka; Mehul Kansal; Sean O’Sullivan; Claudia Gualtieri; Zachary Smith; and Dr. Fernando Vonhoff!

May 2022

  • Congratulations to all our senior undergraduates: Acha Akem, Cameron Anderson, Bailey Godwin, Malika Hiyam, Nneamaka Iwobi, Mehul Kansal, Fanny Morfin-Reyes, Adeola Oyeyinka, Crystal Parry, and Aris Stovall!
  • Congratulations to Katrina Bucci, Francesca Burton, Sera Chase, Simeon Nelson, and Christina Shrestha for receiving the URA award! Great job!

April 2022

  • Claudia Gualtieri presented at the national conference of the Genetics Society of America. Great job, Claudia!
  • We had 11 URCAD posters (Aris, Crystal, Laura, Fanny, Tim, Bailey, Nneamaka, Acha, Isabella, Danielle/Francesca/Eva, Christina/Omer). We are proud of you!

March 2022

  • Justine Anne Guevarra officially joins the lab as a new Ph.D. student. Welcome, Justine Anne!
  • Claudia won a GSA travel award while Zach won the GSA Research Grant award. Congratulations!
  • Francesca Burton, Eva Stanley, and Danielle Wilson gave an oral presentation at the JHU Nu Rho Psi conference. Great job!

September 2021

  • Check out our newest publication for the Vonhoff Lab at UMBC in the Journal of Developmental Biology (DOI: 10.3390/jdb9030026). Congratulations to Ziam Khan; Maya Tondravi; Ryan Oliver; and Dr. Fernando Vonhoff!

July 2021

  • Zachary Smith officially joins the lab as a new Ph.D. student. Welcome, Zach!

June 2021

  • The Vonhoff Lab has its first lab paper published! Congratulations to David Jalali; Justine Anne Guevarra (Towson University); Luz Martinez; Lily Hung; and Dr. Fernando Vonhoff!
    DOI: 10.3390/ijms22137022

May 2021

  • Claudia Gualtieri officially joins the lab as a new Ph.D. student. Welcome, Claudia!
  • Congratulations to Aris, Bailey, Nneamaka, Fanny, Crystal, Tim, and Laura for receiving the URA award! Great job!