NDSU student Mihiri Mendis, who is completing a cereal science doctorate in the Department of Plant Sciences, won the Best Student Research Paper competition at the American Association of Cereal Chemists International annual meeting, held Oct. 5-8 in Providence, Rhode Island.

Her adviser is Senay Simsek, Bert L. D’Appolonia Cereal Science and Technology of Wheat Endowed Associate Professor.

Mendis was one of six finalists chosen from many applicants. For the competition she presented her research and fielded questions from the audience. The other finalists were from Germany, India, Texas and Montana.

Her research was titled “Arabinoxylan Hydrozylates as Immunomodulators.” She extracted fibers called arabinoxylans from wheat bran and treated them with several digestive enzymes to obtain structurally tailored arabinoxylan hydrozylates, thought to be beneficial to digestive and immune systems in humans.

To determine whether these compounds would benefit digestive and immune systems, Mendis and Simsek collaborated with Estelle Leclerc, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences. Leclerc tested the hydrozylates on two intestinal cell lines and one immune system cell line. The results showed certain hydrozylates from arabinoxylans in beneficial wheat bran have the ability to act as immunomodulators, acting in a positive manner on the immune systems of humans.

Mendis plans to complete her doctoral studies this winter and hopes to continue researching in a post-doctoral or teaching position. She earned a master’s degree in 2012 from NDSU and has also earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.