University of Hawai'i at Manoa senior Tiffiny Baring won first prize for her research poster at the national convention of the American Association of Anatomists earlier this month in San Diego.

Her poster was entitled, "A new spontaneous mutation (tuft) causing defective neuropore closure and craniofacial lipoma maps to proximal chromosome 10 in the 3H1 mouse" - focusing on study of a brain deformity discovered in a mouse. Her research mapped the mutation to mouse chromosome 10. The significance of Baring's work is that it suggests the existence of a previously unknown gene regulating brain development and tumor formation.

Baring is majoring in biology and pursuing advanced research at the UH's John A. Burns School of Medicine.