Patel's thesis, "Interleukin-1a Primes Epithelial Anti-bacterial Responses," was judged most outstanding among 22 honors theses. As part of the departmental recognition of his work, Patel presented a research talk at a special biology department seminar.

Each year, the Department of Biology awards a prize in memory of Marion Smith Spector, a 1938 alumna who studied zoology under the late Victor Hamburger, Ph.D. The Spector Prize began in 1974 to recognize academic excellence and outstanding undergraduate achievement and research.

Patel performed his thesis work in the lab of Scott J. Hultgren, Ph.D., the Helen Lehbrink Stoever Professor of Molecular Microbiology. Patel's studies examined the ability of different strains of E. coli, a common agent of urinary-tract infections, to evoke immune responses in two different epithelial cells found in the human urinary tract: those of the bladder and those of the kidney tubule.

The data suggests that the host's response to urinary-tract infections is a continuum between too little response and too much, and that the "right" response is situationally defined by physiological differences between the bladder and kidney. This work is being submitted for publication in a top journal.

Patel plans to pursue a career in medicine, probably involving medical research. He is still deciding between applying to M.D. or M.D./Ph.D. programs.