Nolan Michael Dvorak is a recipient of the Jess Hay Endowment for Chancellor’s Graduate Student Research Fellowship. Only two outstanding graduate students from UT System institutions get this honor each year, thanks to a generous endowment established by former UT System Regent Jess Hay.
Dvorak is a third-year Ph.D. student and Presidential Scholar in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences’ Pharmacology and Toxicology Graduate Program. His research is focused on neurophysiology and neuropharmacological drug development, interests that grew from his undergraduate studies and his clinical experience as a pharmacy technician. He works at UTMB in the laboratory of Dr. Fernanda Laezza.
In recognition of his scholastic excellence and research productivity, Dvorak recently received the Ambassador in Pharmacology & Toxicology Award and George Sealy Research Award in Neurology. He has five publications, including three as first author, and a highly competitive T32 predoctoral fellowship slot under the Houston Area Molecular Biophysics Program (HAMBP). He has presented his work at local conferences as well as the annual meeting of the National Biophysical Society.