"The first Habitat for Humanity house dedication I attended was with a family we had worked very closely with, so it was a joyous occasion."

Katherine Hoops

2005 Ben Rosenbloom Memorial Service Scholarship

Where some avoid tough courses, she chose a university offering "challenging academic programs." Where some see public service as a gift to others, she sees it as "opportunities for personal growth."

She is Katherine Hoops, a senior majoring in Biological Science, and she has compiled a remarkable record of accomplishment both in world-class scientific research and in service to the community since coming to Florida State University.

Hoops spent two summers working in a viral oncology laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, resulting in the article “Two Discrete Promoters Regulate the Alternatively Spliced Human Interferon Regulatory Factor-5 Isoforms,” published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. She is now completing an Honors Thesis (under the direction of Dr. Robert Reeves of the FSU Biological Sciences Department) on shell disease in the Florida Spiny Lobster caused by the Erwinia bacteria.

As president of the FSU chapter of Habitat for Humanity during the 2004-2005 academic year, she led the organization in innovative fundraising initiatives including a poker tournament, a 5K run/walk, and a donation drive via a letter writing campaign. These efforts raised a combined $24,000.

Quite some feathers in an undergraduate's cap, but not the ones Hoops says are most memorable. "The first Habitat for Humanity house dedication I attended was with a family we had worked very closely with, so it was a joyous occasion." Her altruistic efforts have provided her with personal and public reward. Hoops received FSU’s 2005 Ben Rosenbloom Memorial Service Scholarship for her work with Habitat for Humanity.

Katherine Hoops plans to enroll in a combined M.D./Ph.D. program after graduating from FSU in the spring of 2006.