News
The 2008-2009 Biology Major Reps are:
Niqui McKeever & Kristin Jenkins
Congratulations to the Class of 2008 Biology Graduates!
Student News Summer 2008
Bryn Mawr Biology majors are having an exciting summer, working at variety of jobs on campus, off campus, and out of the country! Here is a sampling of how some of our students are spending their summers...
Tamarinda Barry-Figueroa (BMC '09) ... spent the spring 2008 semester studying in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and her semester is continuing into the summer months. Although she continues to be busy studying, her sense of humor has remained intact!
Emily Bergbower (BMC '11) ... had a wonderful visit to Istanbul, Turkey in May, and is currently working in the Hardwick Lab at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health for the second summer. She is working on experiments involving the ketogenic diet and seizure resistance under the tutelage of Dr. Adam Hartman, an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Johns Hopkins, and is also constructing her own experiments related to ketogenic diet. Emily tells us that her "experiments involve a lot of mice, a few of which are babies and thus very cute."
Lisa Betz (BMC '10) ... is keeping busy this summer with work and school. She is working in the office of an orthopedic trauma surgeon, Dr. Clifford Jones, where she is compiling data for an acetabular fracture study. She is also taking physics in summer school, and spending her "free time" studying. She tells us: "Although I am enjoying these opportunities, I hope to never open another Excel spreadsheet, ride a roller coaster or stretch a Slinky again!"
Rica Dela Cruz (BMC '10) ... is working as an intern at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii in Honolulu. Her research at the University of Hawaii Medical School involves studying a signaling pathway for the activation of Ras proteins in human keratinocytes, cells that make up a majority of the epidermis portion of the skin. Rica says: "I am having a lot of fun learning many biological techniques (a lot of cell culture!) and increasing my knowledge about skin cancer."
Sasha DeWitt (BMC '10) ... spent two months in China stuyding Traditional Chinese Medicine at the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She also worked at the Long Hua Hospital in the acupuncture department, focusing on acupuncture, tuina (medicinal massage), and herbal medicine.
Kristin Jenkins (BMC '09) ... is spending her summer at and around Bryn Mawr College, investigating the roles of native pollinators at local watermelon farms under the direction of Dr. Neal Williams. work in the BMC bio dept under Neal Williams doing ecological field work. She says: "I am enjoying every second of being outside and chasing the bees (or being chased by them!)." Kristin, along with Niqui McKeever, is a 2008-2009 Bio Major Rep: "We have some great things planned and we look forward to seeing everyone in the fall!"
Caitlin Jeschke (BMC '10) ... is spending her summer at Bryn Mawr, taking Organic Chemistry along with several other Biology majors.
Cecily Moyer (HC '09) ... is in Tokyo through August, finishing her spring 2008 study abroad program. She tells us that after a semester away from science and research (with Dr. Neal Williams, summer and fall 2007), she is looking forward to getting back to biology in the fall of 2008.
Rebecca Pisciotta (BMC '09) ... is working at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, where she is writing a training program that will be administered to doctors and staff who work at two HIV clinics in Capetown, South Africa. The program will address stigma surrounding HIV+ individuals, particularly in regards to the sexual and reproductive health of HIV+ women.
Valeria Pizzini (BMC '10) ... spent two months working in a biology laboratory in Milan. Her research was with dendritic cells. She was also able to spend some time doing volunteer work with mentally disabled individuals. She tells us: "Both were incredible experiences."
Sarah Powers (BMC '09) ...is studying the effect of dopamine on the behavior of the medicinal leech in the lab of Dr. Karen Mesce at the University of Minnesota. As part of her research, she collected leeches from their natural habitat at St. Olaf College... requiring her to "wear waders and be waist deep in the muck of a mud flat pond.", where she managed to catch a leech with her bare hands.
Shikha Prashad (BMC '09) ... is combining her interests in biology and computer sciencew through an internship with Dr. Read Mantague at the Human Neuroimaging Laboratory at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. She is analyzing data collected by MRI to investigate "decision-making mechanisms in a two person investment game." Shikha is excited by the basic research and clinical aspects of her project, and by the other opportunities available through the SMART (Summer Medical and Research Training: www.bcm.edu/smart) Program sponsored by the Baylor College of Medicine Graduate School.
Ben Pyenson (HC '09) ... is spending his summer at USC in the laboratory of Dr. Katrina Edwards, where he is investigating the microbial diversity of sulfide plume particles from East Pacific Rise hydrothermal vents. He is enjoying this experience, which combines his interests in geology and biology, and has also had some time to explore Southern California, including taking "an amazing trip... to gorgeous Catalina Island."
Sarah Vogel (BMC '09) ... is working in the laboratory of Dr. Maria Limberis at the University of Pennsylvania, using a mouse model to study a gene therapy treatment for cystic fibrosis. Sarah is investigating the immune and inflammatory response in mouse lungs following viral infection. She says: "This research is exciting because it is a mixture of practical and academic; the lab is developing and testing actual treatments targeted at a fatal disease, while also expanding the general knowledge about lung function and the immune system."
Colette Young (BMC '11) ... is doing research in Dr. Alan Kimmel's laboratory at the National Institute of Health (NIH). She is working with a graduate student, Vanessa McMains, analyzing the role of the membrane protein Presenilin in phagocytosis- the process in which the soil amoeba Dictyostelium eat yeast and bacteria. Loss of Presenilin leads to defects in phagocytosis. Colette's research involves introducing wildtype and mutant variants of Presenilin into a Presenilin knock-out strain to determine which residues are essential for Presenilin function.
Andrea Zambetti (BMC '09) ...spent her summer performing research in a neonatology lab at the New York University Langone Medical Center. Her research project involved finding a treatment for preterm infant retinal vascular disease caused by exogenous phosphodiesterase inhibitor and hyperoxic environments, environments commonly encountered by preterm infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). Andrea performed tissue culture with mouse embryonic stem cells and extracted RNA to check gene expression patterns following various treatments. She also had the opportunity to shadow an assortment of pediatric surgeons, neonatology fellows and pediatricians at both the Tisch and Bellevue NICUs.
Other Student News...
Fourth Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium
Ursinus College
November 10, 2007
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Nana Asabere (BMC '09), RaElle Jackson ('08), Astra Bryant (BMC '08), Rachel Brady (BMC '09), Kamila Nowak (BMC '08), and Cecily Moyer (Haverford '09) at their posters.
Beverly Burgess (BMC '07) won a first place prize for the best
undergraduate research poster at the Drexel University College
of Medicine "Discovery Day", held Wednesday, October 11, 2006. The
title of her poster was "Sex Differences in a Sustained Attention Task
in Rats", and described the research she performed over the summer.
Beverly tells us "the goal of this research was to determine if there
were sex differences in acquisition and performance of
a sustained attention task and to determine if methylphenidate
(Ritalin) had equivalent effects on the task performance of both sexes.
The study was an indirect way of assessing gender differences in ADHD
diagnosis and treatment effects."
CONGRATULATIONS, BEVERLY!