Falls Church resident Sandy Hoang is among a group of University of Virginia students who have received a Harrison Undergraduate Research Award for projects they will execute this summer, according to a press release sent out by the university.

Hoang, a third year biology and art history major, will be researching the spatial orientation of stem cell division linked to the timing of neural stem cell elimination, which ultimately controls brain development.

“The Harrison Undergraduate Research Awards provide an opportunity for undergraduate students to participate in a core purpose of the University by creating and advancing new knowledge,” said Brian Cullaty, director of undergraduate research opportunities at University of Virginia’s Center for Undergraduate Excellence. “The program aspires for these student-faculty collaborations to make an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline.”