A celebration of undergraduate research
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Total Fat Quantification of Grass-Fed vs Conventional Grain-Fed Cattle Taya Smith, 4th year |
Health-conscious consumers are becoming increasingly concerned with the amount of fat present in foods. The current trend towards “low fat” foods can be found in any grocery store across the country. Microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) has been proposed as a more efficient method of determining total fat content.
Continue reading “Total Fat Quantification”
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Investigation of the reaction mechanism in the spectroscopy of neutron unbound isotopes by the MoNA Collaboration Jared Bloch, 1st year |
The MoNA Collaboration has been conducting experiments over the past two decades at the then National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) and is poised to expand its scientific program with the upcoming Facility for Rare Isotopes (FRIB), both located in East Lansing, MI.
Continue reading “Spectroscopy of Neutron Unbound Isotopes”
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Functional Analysis of Endothelin Ligand Genes in the Development of the Zebrafish Neural Crest Cell Population Cameron Bennett, 4th year |
Neural crest cells (NCC) are an embryonic cell population that differentiates into many tissues including e.g. heart, pigment cells, neurons, and craniofacial skeleton. Unique to the vertebrates like fish and humans, the neural crest forms along the dorsal neural tube before migrating throughout the embryonic body. The endothelin (Edn) signaling system is a key molecular regulator in cell fate determination, migration, and differentiation into different NCC derivatives.
Continue reading “Functional Analysis of Endothelin Genes”
Using 3D markerless pose estimation programs to determine fear reactivity in human infants.
Samantha Finkbeiner, 5th year; William Quackenbush, 5th year; Charlotte Best, 1st year
Infancy is a key period in the development of fear, an essential emotion involving recognizing and responding to threatening stimuli. Researchers studying infant fear rely on parental reports and direct assessment of child behavior either in the home or structured laboratory settings. The objective of our study is to develop automated approaches for direct assessment of infant behavior.
Continue reading “Pose Estimation Program Use with Infants”
Examining the Influence of Different Microbiota Compositions on Male Mouse Bone Density and Architecture using Microcomputed Tomography
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Soumya Chennupati, 2nd year |
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Sandra O’Reilly, Ph.D. |
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Ho Jun Kang, Graduate Student |
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Narayanan Parameswaran, BVSc., Ph.D. |
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Laura McCabe, Ph.D. |
Osteoporosis, a disease that results in bone loss, affects more than 10 million Americans.1 Bones provide structure, allow for locomotion, and are a storage site for minerals and marrow as an essential organ in the human body. Bones consist of two components: cortical (compact outside shell) and trabecular (cancellous inner region).
Continue reading “Microbiota Composition Effect on Bone”
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Omega-3-Fatty Acid Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) Suppresses Silica-triggered Cathepsin B release, Cell Death, and Proinflammatory Cytokine/Chemokine Secretion in Alveolar Macrophage-like MPI cells
Adrianna Kirby, 3rd year |
Abstract:
Respiratory exposure to crystalline silica (cSiO2), an occupational toxicant, leads to the development of pulmonary inflammation, which can contribute to the autoimmune disease lupus. Alveolar macrophages (AM) phagocytose cSiO2 which induces a cycle of phagolysosomal permeabilization, inflammasome activation, proinflammatory cytokine/chemokine release, and cell death. These actions generate initial unresolved pulmonary inflammation and subsequent systemic autoimmunity in genetically susceptible individuals.
Continue reading “DHA Suppression of Inflammation”
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Using Single Molecule Live Cell Imaging to Investigate the Role of RNF169 in the DNA Damage Response
Aastha Bahl, 3rd-year
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Abstract:
Human ring finger protein 169 (RNF169) plays an important role in mediating the DNA damage response, specifically in the response to DNA double strand breaks (DSBs).
Continue reading “Investigating RNF169 in DNA Damage Response”
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The Role of the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Polymorphisms in Modulating 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-induced HMGCR expression Zach D’Haem, 2nd year |
Hypercholesterolemia, obesity, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have increased in the US population to epidemic proportions. NAFLD increases the risk for cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Epidemiological and rodent studies have linked NAFLD progression and cholesterol dysregulation with exposure to environmental pollutants such as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). TCDD is the most potent ligand for the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR).
Continue reading “Role of AHR SNPs in Cholesterol Homeostasis”
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Identifying Mechanisms of Phage Defense in Vibrio cholerae Using High-Throughput Barcode Sequencing Drew Beckman, 2nd year |
Phage, viral parasites of bacteria, are primary drivers of bacterial evolution and ecology. My research centers on understanding how the bacterial pathogen Vibrio cholerae, the causative agent of the diarrheal disease cholera, defends itself against phage infection. Prior research revealed that the ability of lytic phage to infect V. cholerae was density-dependent such that phage infection did not occur at high cell densities.
Continue reading “Understanding Phage Defense Using Bar-Seq”
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Differentiating the Effects of Exposure versus Medical Education on Transphobia Among a Sample of Emergency Room Practitioners Ishaan Modi, 2nd year |
Transgender individuals are a marginalized population in the United States, facing systemic discrimination from housing to employment to education. However, an area of discrimination that is equally as omnipresent is in healthcare. Transgender individuals may often face microaggressions or explicit discrimination from providers or staff; when this occurs in the emergency room, this transphobia (prejudice against transgender people) could be deadly.
Continue reading “Education, Exposure & Transphobia in the ER”