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Alexander Roberts ’27 is the recipient of the 2026 Undergraduate Research Award from North Carolina Independent Colleges & Universities (NCICU). In addition to the award, he was also recognized as the applicant with the highest rating award for the merit of his research and his ability to clearly communicate the creativity, feasibility and broader significance of the work. In total, 11 students were chosen for their work in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and psychology.

Roberts, a biology major from Charlotte, North Carolina, studies how a cancer, fibrosarcoma, can be stopped by a virus, the reovirus. His project explores how genetic editing can be used to decrease the cancer cells’ immune responses, and in turn increase the virus’s infection rate and decrease the cancer cells’ viability.

“Cancer cells have altered immune responses which can be exploited by viruses to infect and replicate in those cells,” Roberts said.

By studying these pathways, his work aims to better understand how to improve the anti-cancer properties of oncolytic viruses.

The NCICU funding will support the purchase of key reagents needed to study the role of protein kinase R (PKR), a cellular protein, which cells use to fight viral infections and whether Roberts and Rivera-Serrano can enhance the cancer-killing properties of viruses by disrupting PKR.

Roberts’s mentor is Efrain Rivera-Serrano, assistant professor of biology.

“While being awarded the grant reflects the scientific merit of my project, it is also a recognition of the help Dr. Serrano has given me in mentoring and designing my project,” Roberts said. “He has been an amazing help with his depth of scientific knowledge, and I love that I have the opportunity to work in his lab.”

As part of the NCICU Undergraduate Research Program, Roberts will present his work at the 2026 State of North Carolina Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium for Fall 2026.

He also received funding from the American Society for Virology (ASV) through a competitive Undergraduate Student Award to attend and present his research at the ASV annual meeting in July, marking the first time an ���ϲ����� student will attend this national meeting.

Roberts will participate in ���ϲ�����’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience and was recently awarded a J. Nathan Grant Endowed Grant to support his research.

“To have one of my students receive this grant is incredibly meaningful because it recognizes the quality of undergraduate research at ���ϲ����� and the strong potential of our students to contribute to meaningful scientific questions, particularly in the biomedical sciences,” said Rivera-Serrano. “These awards are competitive across NCICU institutions, so Alex’s selection highlights both the strength of his proposed work and the level of research training that ���ϲ����� students receive. This opportunity also gives students important experience communicating their work beyond campus, networking with peers and faculty from across the state and developing the confidence to see themselves as scientists.”