Vilde Leipart has been awarded Alf Bjørseth's Inspiration Award for her doctoral work.
Vilde Leipart, a PhD candidate at NMBU's Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management (MINA), defended her thesis "Understanding the structure-function relationship of honey bee Vitellogenin” Friday the 18th of February, 2023.
Alf Bjørseth's Inspiration Award of 100 000 NOK is yearly awarded by NMBU for the best doctoral work delivered at NMBU within renewable energy and/or life sciences. The prize is donated by Scatec Innovation AS.
The purpose of the award is to inspire more research in renewable energy and/or life science. The award goes to the winner personally, and is intended to inspire and reward young researchers who are on the threshold of a career in the above-mentioned fields
Important protein
In her PhD, Leipart made a model of the protein vitellogenin and used it to understand how the protein works in the honey bee. The results are important for our understanding of the honey bee and how vitellogenin affects bee health.
Vitellogenin is found in the females of many animal groups in species as diverse as jellyfishes, frogs, and chickens.
The protein provides the major egg yolk protein that is a source of nutrients during early embryo development. It is closely linked to reproduction and health.
You can read more about her thesis below.