Graduate Researcher Jared Ruth Receives 2025 Illumina Pilot Project Program Award

Jared Ruth, a PhD student in Cell Biology in the OU Graduate College, has been selected as a recipient of the 2025 Illumina Pilot Project Program Award through the OU Health Campus Institutional Research Core Facility. The award supports innovative, cost-effective approaches to scientific discovery—an opportunity Ruth says is especially valuable in today’s increasingly competitive research-funding landscape. “Finding cost-effective ways to answer scientific questions is immensely important,” he shared. “Through the outreach of the OU Health Sciences Research Office and the support of the Institutional Research Core Facility, the Webb Laboratory has been selected to test a possible cost-effective alternative for single-cell RNA sequencing.”

Ruth conducts his research in the Webb Lab, which investigates the DNA-binding protein ARID3a and its role in stem cell fate and autoimmune diseases. Recent preliminary findings from the lab revealed elevated levels of ARID3a in renal progenitor cells isolated from adult kidneys. With support from the Illumina award, Ruth and his colleagues will use Illumina’s 3’ single-cell RNA sequencing kit to profile gene expression in these cells and map the molecular networks influenced by ARID3a—work that may advance understanding of kidney biology and disease.

Ruth also hopes his experience will encourage other graduate students to pursue similar opportunities. His advice is straightforward: “Read your emails—critically important. Find a supportive mentor—equally critical. And don’t be afraid to take chances!”