Makayla Ellison ’27 wins poster award at SC INBRE Science Symposium

Makayla Ellison ’27, a neuroscience major from Dillon, South Carolina, won a perfect score from all judges for her poster at the 17^th annual SC INBRE Science Symposium held earlier this year. The rising senior is coming closer to understanding eating disorders by observing how laboratory rats respond to certain tastes and how they learn to avoid tastes over time.

In research she first explored in 2025 in Veronica Lee Flores’ lab, Ellison was able to demonstrate that rats that had prior experience with a set of tastes were able to learn about aversions to new tastes better than rats that had not previously been exposed. She specifically looked at elapsed time between exposure to salty and sour tastes and aversion learning of a new taste.

“What we eat influences how we learn about food choices in the future. So, these findings have implications for metabolic and appetitive eating disorders and overall eating behavior,” Ellison said.

Before her poster session, Ellison admitted her nerves were at full tilt. But she found her zone. “When I heard my name announced (as a poster winner) I was stunned,” said Ellison, a first-time presenter. “I was so happy and proud. It made me realize I’m capable of things I didn’t think were possible.”

Ellison didn’t just earn an award for best neuroscience presentation; hers was the highest scoring poster of the day in competition with more than 100 students from 15 Primarily Undergraduate Universities and R1 institutions across the state.

Ellison’s performance will no doubt fuel her aspirations of becoming a full-time neuroscience researcher. And the conference gave her a platform and the practice in communicating her interests more broadly. Ellison said she looks forward to answering more questions under the guidance of Flores, an assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience.

“Dr. Flores has been an exceptional mentor,” Ellison said. “Without the opportunity to work in her lab last summer, I would not have discovered my love and appreciation for the research process. I owe her a debt of gratitude for the award – for the time she spent preparing me and the encouragement she gave along the way.”