Do you ever think about how the nervous system develops? Rebecca Wu does.

And now she will be doing so with the aid of a Beckman Scholarship.

A local selection committee has named Wu, of Virginia Beach, a rising third-year neuroscience major at the University of Virginia, a Beckman Scholar, which means she will receive $21,000 in funding – including stipends, supplies and travel – to support her research. Her research mentors will receive $5,000 each.

The scholarships are funded through the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation, and support in-depth, sustained undergraduate research experiences for talented, full-time undergraduate students. The program provides financial support for students and faculty mentors over two consecutive summers and one academic year of research, and in conjunction with the annual Beckman Symposium, offers a unique educational experience.

“My research investigates the role of the gene ccn1l2 in nervous system development, irregularities which could result in not only nervous system diseases, but also craniofacial developmental abnormalities,” Wu said. “This research has the potential to help develop gene-based therapies, which could improve the lives of patients suffering from these maladies.”

Wu works in Sarah Kucenas’ laboratory; she contacted Kucenas, professor of biology, cell biology and neuroscience and associate director of the Neuroscience Graduate Program and director of the Program in Fundamental Neuroscience, before she had even arrived at UVA.

“Her email was mature and I could tell she was deeply interested in gaining research experience,” Kucenas said. “And unlike most undergraduates, she had already attempted to read some of the work the lab had recently published. In fact, she told me as much in her email, and then proceeded to tell me she was confused and had a lot of questions. I was incredibly impressed because this is exactly the phenotype I’m looking for in an undergraduate researcher.”

Kucenas said Wu showed initiative by reading papers without being asked, and admitted when she was unclear or unsure about something.

“Although Rebecca has only really had one-and-a-half semesters in-person in lab, she has been engaged even throughout COVID restrictions,” Kucenas said. “She and Drew Latimer, the research scientist she has been working with, have been in constant contact and I know that both are excited for her to get back to the bench. She’s not only a productive scientist in my group, she has always approached science, the lab and her project with an energy that is infectious.

“I’m very excited to see where she takes her project and to watch her mature into an incredible independent scientist.”

As a Beckman Scholar, Wu will have expanded networking opportunities.

“Through this program, I will present my work at national conferences, giving me a glimpse into what I hope to accomplish in the future as well as a platform to meet with professionals in the field,” Wu said. “I am also extremely excited to meet with other Beckman Scholars, from whom I have so much to learn and admire.”

Wu’s research was hampered by COVID-19.

“After being sent home halfway through my first year, and the overall detached nature of online school, I often felt ‘stuck’ in first year,” she said. “I haven’t been able to set foot in the physical lab since my first year, so it was hard not to feel as if my research involvement was vaulted away. However, with the incredible support of my lab team, whom I consider to be a second family on Grounds, we have found ways for me to work and grow remotely. Together we definitely make the best of what could have been a tough situation and I can’t wait to see what these next years bring.”

Drew Latimer, a research scientist in Kucenas’ lab, lauded Wu as an undergraduate colleague.

“We met when she ‘interviewed’ for a volunteer undergraduate position in the lab, a position I believe she was very persistent about obtaining, and I knew immediately that we would work well together,” Latimer said. “She’s just a really nice and giving person and very easy get along with and she’s really very funny.”

Latimer said Wu is very dependable as a researcher.

“She asks thoughtful questions and is careful when doing experiments,” he said. “I had begun to give her more independence just before COVID hit. So I’m glad she’ll be able to start doing lab work again this summer, thanks to the Beckman Scholarship, which I’m really happy she was able to obtain. She’ll be a great help for my own research project, and I know she’ll do a great job with her Beckman project.”

Wu also received a Harrison Undergraduate Research Award from the University. She is a student docent at the Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia, and she is a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and the UVA Flute Ensemble. A graduate of Princess Anne High School, Wu said she plans to be a “lifelong learner, researcher and physician.”

“I feel extremely lucky and honored, but most of all grateful for my lab, whose guidance and encouragement is everything,” Wu said.