Braxton will pursue research in regenerative stem cell medicine, with a focus on ways to regrow and repair tissue and organs that are damaged by chronic and degenerative diseases.

David Braxton

James R. Fisher Fellowship, American Cancer Society

David Braxton, a graduating Biochemistry major and a graduate of Manatee High School in Bradenton, Florida, was awarded the James R. Fisher Fellowship of the American Cancer Society for his cancer-related Honors Thesis research project entitled "Expression and Subcellular Localization of the Yin Yang-1 Transcription Factor in Mammalian Cells." Braxton is working in the laboratory of his directing professor, Dr. Myra Hurt, at the FSU College of Medicine. His project is part of the laboratory’s program to study the regulation of mammalian gene expression, specifically those events controlling transcription initiation in general, and in the cell division cycle in particular.

Braxton’s activities outside the research laboratory include his co-authorship of a student handbook for first-year freshman students, Things I Wish I'd Learned as a Freshman but Didn't Know Who to Ask: An Unofficial Guide for Navigating Your 1st Year in College. The handbook project was directed and edited by Dr. Sally Karioth, associate professor of Nursing. Braxton continued to follow his interest in mentoring new FSU students by serving as a peer leader for the First-Year Experience program, a one-credit course designed to help new FSU students make the transition from high school to college.

Braxton continues to serve as a Justice on the Student Judicial Board.

Braxton was recently elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest honor society. FSU has the first Phi Beta Kappa chapter chartered in the state of Florida. He is also a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, and was on the 2004 Homecoming Court, where he was voted first runner-up by FSU students.

In preparation for medical school, Braxton served as a volunteer at the Bixler Emergency Center at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, as well as at several shelters for the homeless and long-term care facilities. Braxton will pursue research in regenerative stem cell medicine, with a focus on ways to regrow and repair tissue and organs that are damaged by chronic and degenerative diseases.