Scott Weber – Department of Microbiology and Molecular Biology
The following two aims are from my 2013 MEG. We made great progress and completed most of both Aim 1 and Aim 2. Details on the progress for each aim are described below.
Mentoring Environment: This MEG allowed me to expand the size of my lab and increase the amount and quality of mentoring. I met with student each week in lab meeting as well as individually. I also had each student email me a weekly update. Students were given opportunities to do hands on work, be involved in the data analysis and presentation at local and regional meetings.
BYU students involved in mentoring: Kemais Ehlers, Bryce Anderson, Kiara Vaden, Garrett Hamblin, Deborah Johnson, Taylor Orton, Claudia Freitas, Niels Steadman, Kurt Williams, Sheldon Myers, Brian Ballard.
Aim 1. Determine role of helper T cell receptor affinity in memory cell response to infection.
Hypothesis: The affinity of the T cell receptor for its stimulatory ligand is critical for the generation of a strong helper T cell memory response to infection and affects the level of T cell apoptosis.
Academic objectives for Aim 1: We are currently working on three manuscripts based off of the data generated for Aim 1. These manuscripts will be submitted this semester. Five different graduate and undergraduates have been directly involved in these projects and presented their work at five regional or national meetings.
- Vaden K† and Weber KS. Determining the optimal TCR:pMHC avidity for CD4+ T cell memory generation. Midwinter Conference of Immunologists. January 23-26, 2016. Asilomar California.
- Hamblin G*, Freitas C†, Steadman N*, Williams K*, and Weber KS. Calcium Signaling in Primary and Secondary Responses of Listeria specific T helper cells. 10th Annual Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research. February 19th 2016. Salt Lake City. Utah
- Hamblin G*, Freitas C†, Steadman N*, Williams K*, and Weber KS. Calcium Signaling in Primary and Secondary Responses of Listeria specific T helper cells. Autumn Immunology Conference 44th Annual Meeting. November 20-23rd 2015. Chicago Illinois Winner of an AAI Undergraduate Award and a cash prize because Garrett’s abstract was scored as one of the best of undergraduates presenting.
- Johnson DK†, Persuad SP, Weber KS. Determining optimal TCR:pMHC avidity for CD4+ T cell memory generation. 2015 Keystone Symposia on T cell regulation and effector function. March 29th – April 3rd 2015 Snowbird Utah
- Freitas CT†, Williams KR*, and Weber KS. Calcium Signaling in T helper cell Primary and Secondary Responses. Midwinter Conference of Immunologists. January 24-27 2015. Asilomar California.
Aim 2. Engineer high affinity T cell receptors fused to cytokines to improve memory response.
Hypothesis: Targeted application of pro-memory cytokines fused to high affinity T cell receptors to the site of infection will improve the memory response and provide a novel and infection specific therapeutic.
Academic objectives for Aim 1: We are currently working on finishing up two manuscripts based off of the data generated for Aim 2 with another planned for the future. These manuscripts will be submitted this year. Six different graduate and undergraduates have been directly involved in these projects and presented their work at four regional or national meetings.
- Myers S* Johnson D†, Anderson B*, Ehlers K*, Orton T*, Ballard B*, Persuad S, Weber KS. Engineering High Affinity Class II TCRs Specific for Listeria monocytogenes. 10th Annual Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research. February 19th 2016. Salt Lake City. Utah
- Myers S* Johnson D†, Anderson B*, Ehlers K*, Orton T*, Ballard B*, Persuad S, Weber KS. Engineering High Affinity Class II TCRs Specific for Listeria monocytogenes. Autumn Immunology Conference 44th Annual Meeting. November 20-23rd 2015. Chicago Illinois
- Anderson BE*, Ehlers KB*, Johnson DK†, Persaud SP, and Weber KS. Engineering High Affinity T-Cell Receptors Specific for Listeria monocytogenes. 9th Annual Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research. February 27th 2015. St. George Utah
- Johnson D†, Anderson BE*, Ehlers K*, and Weber KS. Engineering High Affinity TCell Receptors Specific for Listeria monocytogenes. Midwinter Conference of Immunologists. January 24-27 2015. Asilomar California.
Budget: I hired 3 undergraduates to be employed over the summer months (~$5,000) as well as 2 graduate students (~$4,000). The rest of the funds were spent on supplies ($3,000 – Flow cytometry, $2,00 – DNA manipulation reagents, $2,000 – Lab consumables, $2,000 – T cell isolation supplies, and $2,000 – Mouse husbandry and transgenic screening supplies).
Conclusion: This MEG has been a blessing to many students. They have been able to attend and present at regional and national meetings as well as have great experiences working in the lab. This was a tremendous opportunity for them to talk about their research with people outside of The lab and in other fields of research and expand their scientific and future employment horizons. It has also been very helpful to me and allowed me to employ and mentor more students and move my projects forward faster than I would have otherwise. We greatly appreciate the MEG funding that has made these projects and experiences possible.
* = BYU Undergraduate † = BYU Graduate Student