DSU Postdoctorate Receives WOC Rising Star Award

Dr. Lathadevi Karuna Chintapenta, a DSU postdoctorate research associate in aquatic sciences, has been awarded the Women of Color STEM Conference 2015 Technology Rising Star Award.

Presented at the recently held WOC Conference in Detroit, Mich., the award was given to young women who are helping to shape technology for the future.

A native of India, Dr. Chintapenta earned her Ph.D. in natural science at North Orissa University in India in 2011. There in her marine microbiology dissertation research, she isolated and identified natural pigments from mangrove fungi that have been found to be potentially useful  in the food industry as food colorants.

Later as a research associate in India, she isolated Serratia marscens, a bacterium from silkworm gut, and extracted and purified a Serratiopeptidase protein from the bacterium. This protein is medically and commercially important due to its analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties.

Dr. Chintapenta became a research associate at DSU in 2012. Since then, she has successfully trained about 20 undergraduate students in connection with their research projects. She assists her research mentor, Dr. Gulnihal Ozbay, in all aquatic sciences research and extension activities, including grant writing.

Dr. Ozbay, professor of natural resources, recommended Dr. Chintapenta for the award.