Biology junior Isabel Delwel, of Round Rock, is one of 67 scholars in the United States selected to participate in the 2017 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Exceptional Research Opportunities Program.

A member of UNT's Honors College and the McNair Scholars Program, Delwel will spend 10 weeks this summer doing extensive research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington. She researches bacteriophage — viruses that infect bacteria — with Lee Hughes, associate professor of biology.

"I'm so excited and so honored, and I know that I wouldn't have this opportunity without being part of UNT's McNair program and the research experience it's helped me gain," Delwel says. "It helped me gain confidence and allowed me to do serious research."