Journal of Undergraduate Research

Peck, Connor The Chemotherapeutic Potential of Resveratrol-Based Treatments Faculty Mentor: Kim O’Neill, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Introduction Cancer is one of the most prevalent and deadly diseases in the world. In 2012 alone, there were approximately 14 million new cases of cancer and over 8 million cancer-related deaths worldwide. Despite extensive research in […]

Eberting, KalareLyn Effect of High Expression of IRF5 on B Cell Activation After Antigen Stimulation Faculty Mentor: Brian Poole, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Introduction While autoimmune diseases are very prevalent in the United States, little is understood about the cause of autoimmunity, making it difficult to take preventative measures and develop treatments. Previous studies have […]

Garcia, Brandon Thomas Expression Changes of Dopamine Type 2 Receptor on the Surface of Human Monocytes and Lymphocytes After Exposure to Dopamine In Vitro. Faculty Mentor: Sandra Hope, PhD and Scott Steffensen, PhD, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Introduction Dopamine (DA) is a neurotransmitter in the brain that plays a role in several functions […]

Durrant, Matthew Phenome-Wide Association Study of Y Chromosome Genetic Markers Faculty Mentor: Mary Davis, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Introduction The purpose of this project was to analyze genetic variants on the Y chromosome for significant association with various diseases. In Dr. Mary Davis’ lab we gained access to a unique data set that allows us […]

Smith, Matthew Development of a model for adult T cell leukemia in HTLV-1 infected humanized mice Faculty Mentor: Dr. Brad Berges, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Introduction Millions of people in the world are infected with human T-lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1). As the name states, this virus attacks the T cells of the infected […]

Crandall, Justin Development of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cells to Target Development of Cancer Faculty Mentor: Dr. Scott Weber, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Introduction Cancer negatively affects the lives of millions of individuals, and remains a difficult ailment to treat. In 2014, approximately 585,720 deaths and 1,665,540 new cases of cancer were reported […]

Nielson, Chris Creation of Twelve Member Plasmid Library for Promoter Swapping to Control Chromosomal Gene Expression in E. Coli Mentor: William R. McCleary, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology Introduction Metabolic engineering is becoming a very important area of research, allowing researchers to harness metabolic pathways to either eliminate or synthesize desired compounds. Understanding metabolic […]

Brog, Rachel Thymidine kinase 1: the key to predicting cancer recurrence Dr. Kim L. O’Neill, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Introduction Currently it is estimated that over 230,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year in the United States alone. Although treatments are improving, an alarming number of these cases will show cancer recurrence […]

Pattison, Jenny Adele The role of PAS kinase and Cbf1 in Cellular Metabolism Faculty Mentor: Julianne H. Grose, Mircobiology and Molecular Biology Introduction The most recent National Institute of Health report concludes that 68.8% of American adults are considered to be overweight or obese1. With this trend in obesity, metabolic diseases such as heart disease, […]