Junior Aaron Landis spent the summer working in the lab of Robert Sorge, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Psychology. Landis, who is majoring in neuroscience and is a member of the UAB Honors College University Honors Program, was one of 10 undergraduates selected for the inaugural UAB President’s Summer Research Scholarship Program. The award includes $4,500 for students to finance 12 weeks of research in a UAB lab, plus $500 for their mentors.

Landis’ project involved multiple groups of mice that ate a synthesized version of the standard American diet developed by Sorge, as well as regular infusions of a CB2 cannibidiol receptor called “agonist.” “It is expected to reduce the negative effects of this diet on the mice,” Landis said. “If the results lead to a human trial, this method could one day assist individuals in becoming less prone to cardiovascular disease and diabetes.”