Download CURBS Research Symposium - UF Center for Undergraduate

2013
CURBS Research Symposium
October 21, 2013
5:00pm-7:00pm
J. Wayne Reitz
Union
Table of Contents
Welcome……………………………………………………………………….…2
Student Abstracts………………………………………………………………3
Faculty Mentors………………………………………………….……………12
Support………………………………………………………………………….13
1
Welcome
Welcome to the 1st Annual Center for Undergraduate Research
Board of Students (CURBS) Research Symposium! Undergraduate
research is one of the five areas of opportunity, along with
internships, service, leadership, and international experience that
students are encouraged to participate in during their
undergraduate career.
The mission of the CURBS is to help undergraduates become more
involved in the research process, and to improve the student
research experience in existing undergraduate programs. We aim to
foster a challenging scientific environment in the undergraduate
community.
This symposium is organized to showcase undergraduate research
efforts from across the University of Florida campus. By
implementing this symposium in the fall semester, we encourage
early involvement in research for students seeking research
opportunities, while enhancing presentation experience for student
researchers.
Each of these student researchers has benefited from mentoring
provided by exceptional faculty researchers. We thank them for their
efforts on behalf of the undergraduate students.
We encourage you to share in this project as you visit the
presentations and read the collection of abstracts.
Mindy Wang
Director, CURBS Research Symposium
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Parisa
Amirzadehasl
Faculty Mentor: David Fuller
Home institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Health-related (Pharmacy, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing,
Physical Therapy, etc.)
Effect of Fetal Spinal Cord Tissue and Chondroitinase ABC on Respiratory
Function following Cervical Spinal Cord Injury
A majority of spinal cord injuries occur in the cervical region. Previous studies
by our group has suggested that fetal spinal cord (FSC) tissue survives well
after transplantation into the injured spinal cord, but does not integrate well
with the host tissue due to glial scarring around the transplant. One barrier to
host-graft connectivity is the presence of inhibitory molecules in the scar. In
this ongoing study, we are investigating if the combined treatment of
Chondroitinase ABC, an enzyme that is capable of breaking down the inhibitory
molecules and reducing glial scarring, with FSC transplants will improve
respiratory function following a cervical spinal cord injury. Sprague Dawley
rats received a C3/C4 hemicontusion injury followed by an intraspinal injection
of FSC tissue and Chondrointinase ABC one-month post injury. Breathing was
measured at 2 months post-transplantation using plethysmography. Phrenic
nerve activity was also assessed under anesthesia. Preliminary data suggest a
trend towards a higher tidal volume as well as increased phrenic motor output
in rats treated with a transplant and Chondroitinase ABC. These results
suggest that coupling FSC transplantation with intraspinal Chondroitinase ABC
delivery might lead to improved functional outcomes following spinal cord
injury.
Justin Arami
Faculty Mentor: Alan Katritzky
Home institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Physical Sciences
Synthesis of Energetic 3,5-disubstituted 1,2,4-oxadiazoles
Oxadiazole heterocycles are important structural units to drug discovery and
the pharmaceutical industry, and have also been studied as corrosion inhibitors
as well as building blocks for energetic materials. Oxadiazoles present high
densities, good oxygen balance, and high heats of formation, making them a
target of interest in the development of explosives with low sensitivities.
Though they have been subject to current research, few energetic 1,2,4oxadiaoles have been explored. In an effort to develop new synthetic routes to
novel energetic materials, progress is being made to synthesize energetic 3,5disubstituted 1,2,4-oxadiazoles and measure their thermochemical properties
and the effects of selected electron withdrawing groups.
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George
Armanious
Faculty Mentor: Prabir Barooah
Home institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Engineering
Economic Benefits of Implementing Nighttime Setback Control in Campus
Buildings
This paper analyzes the economic benefits of implementing nighttime setback
control in air handling units (AHUs) in HVAC systems. The AHU studied in this
paper is AHU 2 in Pugh Hall, which only services Pugh room 170. A simulation
of the room was created using basic thermodynamic laws and estimated
parameters from previous studies concerning Pugh Hall. It was found that
approximately $8000 could be saved annually if this type of control is
implemented.
Julie Baniszewski
Faculty Mentor: Emma Weeks
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Biological Sciences
Cold Tolerance: Improving Mass Rearing of Cricotopus lebetis, the Hydrilla Tip
Miner
The hydrilla midge, Cricotopus lebetis, is a potential biological control agent for
the invasive weed hydrilla. Hydrilla was introduced into Florida through the
aquarium industry in the 1950s and has since thrived. Hydrilla invades natural
ecosystems with surface mats which clog waterways, prevent sunlight
penetration and compete with native Florida plants. As a larva, the hydrilla
midge mines into the apical meristem of hydrilla preventing further vertical
growth and surface mats. The midge is currently being reared in colony for
mass release to augment existing populations. Eggs are often held at cold
temperatures for storage, to delay development or for transportation to field
release sites. Therefore, it is important to understand possible consequences
on hatch rates, development or final adult emergence. Eggs masses that had
been stored at 5oC for 1, 2, 4, 7, 14, and 21 days were tested for hatch
success, larval development to pupation and adult emergence. Hatch success
decreased significantly after day 7 of refrigeration. Final adult emergence was
significantly affected after only 2 days at 5oC. The knowledge gained from this
study will help reduce negative impacts on hatch rates and midge development
by reducing storage or compensating with more eggs if storage is necessary.
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Evan Broggi
Faculty Mentor: Alan Katritzky
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Physical Sciences
Synthesis of C-Terminus Taurine di-, tri- and Tetrapeptides and N-,O-,SConjugates
New approach towards water-soluble peptidomimetics that include taurine
moiety is described. Taurine, a non-protein sulfur containing amino acid, is the
most abundant free amino acid and has been shown to play several essential
roles in the human body and considered as an essential nutrient in certain
species. In live organisms taurine does not participate in the formation of
peptide bonds being deficient of the C-terminal carboxylic group, although, as a
part of cytoprotective mechanism, it conjugates with bile acids such as cholic
acid, producing taurocholic acid. In this work a series of acylations of taurine at
N-terminus allowed synthesis of a number of peptides and conjugated systems.
We investigated the reactivity of taurine through its N-terminus protection with
Cbz group, SO2OH activation and further acylation of various N-, O-, Snucleophiles using benzotriazole methodology. Analogous methodology is used
to incorporate taurine as a C-terminus amino acid into the peptide chain. Thus
N-protection of taurine followed by its SO2-activation and further acylation
allowed us incorporate taurine into peptide chains as well as bioactive moieties
of hormones and medicinal drugs. So far we have synthesized twenty three dim
tri-, and tetrapeptides that contain taurine at both C- and N-termini. These
tetrapeptides are highly soluble in water and ready to serve as novel drug
cargo peptides.
Scott Cohen
Faculty Mentor: Peggy Borum
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Health-related (Pharmacy, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing,
Physical Therapy, etc.)
InvestiGator's Carnitine Team
The Carnitine Team in the InvestiGators Research Honors Society studies the
interrelationships among fuel metabolism, diet, the microbiome, and the
metabolome. Our clinical samples are from the University of Florida Research
Ketogenic Therapy Program that administers a very high fat and very low
carbohydrate diet to treat seizures in children with intractable epilepsy. To
study a patient’s metabolome, we prepare plasma and red blood cells from a
patient’s blood for mass spectrometric analysis. We will conduct both global
metabolomics and targeted metabolomics with a focus on the carnitinome. The
piglet is our animal model which allows us to address questions too invasive to
be investigated in the human neonate. The tissues and samples that cannot be
obtained from a child can be harvested from piglets in our very own Piglet
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PNICU). Currently, we are studying the
developing microbiome and metabolome in a term piglet model in a 1-2 day old
piglet and a 9-10 day old piglet. This allows us to define the interactions
between the metabolome and microbiome during the early stages of life. These
translational experiments are designed to lead to knowledge that will facilitate
improved care of pediatric patients with chronic disease.
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Leanne Dumeny
Faculty Mentor: Scott Berceli
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Health-related (Pharmacy, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing,
Physical Therapy, etc.)
Evaluation of Cell Proliferation in Vein Grafts Using Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU)
Vein grafts are a form of treatment for vascular diseases but often only provide
short-term improvement due to the possibility of the grafts failing from intimal
hyperplasia and remodeling of the graft. A shearing force across the
endothelium leads to proliferation of cells within the vessel and causes
biochemical and morphological changes to the graft. In this study, we sought to
find a correlation between the rate and timing of cell proliferation with intimal
hyperplasia development. In order to find a correlation, vein graft samples were
stained for bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), an immunohistochemical stain used to
assess cell proliferation. Vein grafts were performed and harvested 2 hours, 1,
3, 7, 14, and 28 day(s) after implantation in BrdU-injected rabbits and slides
were generated for each time point. Positive cells are visibly stained and
counted to determine the proliferation rate. Data from each sample will be
quantitatively compared and the high flow and low flow graft for each rabbit will
also be compared. These data will be used as part of a model to understand the
biological and physical effects of the vein graft and the process of vascular
adaption from the injury.
Jesse Gordon
Faculty Mentor: Leslie Murray
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Physical Sciences
Utilizing a Multi-Nucleating Macrobicyclic Ligand to Selectively Form Dimetallic
and Trimetallic Ni(II) and Cu(II) Complexes
Multi-electron redox processes involving small molecules (e.g. the reduction of
carbon dioxide) are catalyzed by metalloenzymes containing metal clusters that
provide redox equivalents for small molecule transformations to occur.
Additionally, these metalloenzymes form an internal substrate binding pocket in
the active site that implements hydrogen bonding to enforce selective substrate
interactions. Murray Group aims to explore the design and reactivity of
multimetallic complexes of macrobicyclic ligands in which cluster assembly is
controlled by design and a central cavity for substrate binding is incorporated
to facilitate these processes. To these ends, a cryptand ligand, featuring a
tris(2-ethoxy-3-isopropylphenyl)methane cap bridged by three internally facing
pyridinedicarboxamide arms that allows suitable space for substrate binding,
has been employed to selectively form dimetallic and trimetallic complexes of
Ni(II) and Cu(II). Evidence for synthesis of these complexes is supported by,
elemental analysis, X-ray Crystallography, Mass Spectrometry, Infrared
Spectroscopy, and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. These complexes can
provide insight into carbon dioxide fixation, metalloenzyme redox mechanisms,
and the importance of hydrogen bonding in catalysis.
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Halie Guelfi
Faculty Mentor: Roland Staud
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Health-related (Pharmacy, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing,
Physical Therapy, etc.)
Predictors of Clinical Pain in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis or Fibromyalgia
Syndrome
Correlations are poor between clinical pain and objective tissue abnormalities
in many clinical disorders, including osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis
(RA), and fibromyalgia syndrome (FM). Neither joint swelling, articular cartilage
loss, nor inflammation predict well the magnitude of symptoms of OA, RA and
FM patients. In addition, lack of easily identifiable tissue abnormalities in FM
makes these patients pain complaints difficult to understand. However, recent
findings of consistent neuroplastic changes in OA, RA, and FM patients suggest
common nervous system mechanisms relevant for their clinical pain including
peripheral and central sensitization. Thus we hypothesized that testing of
peripheral and central pain sensitivity of RA or FM patients will predict their
clinical pain better than joint abnormalities, including number of tender and
swollen joints.
Sadra
Hamedzadeh
Faculty Mentor: Alan Katritzky
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Physical Sciences
Pd-promoted Cyclo-dimerization Route to Cyclic Tetrapeptides Using Cbz-Nprotected Dipeptidoyl Benzotriazolides
Cyclo-tetrapeptides are useful intermediates in synthesis of drugs and drug-like
molecules. This could be attributed to some of the characteristics of cyclotetrapeptides such as their low molecular weight, and favorable
pharmacokinetic properties, as well as their ability to support a wide range of
substituents and functional groups. Although cyclo-tetrapeptides could
potentially be used for various pharmaceutical and industrial applications, their
applications are currently limited because of the problems in their synthesis.
The main problem for their synthesis is the difficulty in bringing the two termini
in a linear tetrapeptide sufficiently close for the cyclization to occur. Such
steric and conformational hindrance issues are due to peptide bonds in trans
conformation, and the tendency of linear peptides to exist in more extended.
We have used a Pd-catalyzed tandem-deprotection-cyclization reaction, to
develop a novel methodology to synthetize symmetrical and unsymmetrical
cyclic tetrapeptides, from open-chain N-cbz-dipeptidobenzotriazolides. The
cyclo-dimerization reactions were successfully carried out with
dipeptidobenzotriazoles as the starting materials, yielding cyclo-tetrapeptides.
The cyclo-tetrapeptides cannot be prepared efficiently by previously reported
synthesis methods. This novel methodology would provide a convenient tool for
synthesis of a wide variety of cyclo-tetrapeptides that could potentially have
applications in the pharmaceutical industry, catalysis, and material sciences.
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Ryan Johnson
Faculty Mentor: Peggy Borum
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Health-related (Pharmacy, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing,
Physical Therapy, etc.)
InvestiGators Gator Team
The Gator Team of the Investigators Research Honors Society focuses on
research regarding HIV positive pediatric patients and infants exposed to HIV
in utero. Both HIV infection and anti-retroviral medications can have a negative
impact on growth, body composition, and overall metabolism. Our team utilizes
nutrition and lifestyle modification education to combat the comorbidities such
as insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and lipodystrophy. Our
patient care program focuses on supplementing traditional clinical care
through the collection of 24-hour diet recalls, anthropometric measurements,
and 7-day activity recalls at UF Health’s weekly Infectious Disease Clinic.
Additionally, personalized education packets are created for each patient
outlining concerning trends within their diet and/or body composition. These
packets are designed to give the patient an active role in improving health
through lifestyle. The Gator Team has created unique tools, including the Gator
Circle, which measures visceral adiposity, and the Cumulative Indices
Assessments, which indicates risk for developing insulin resistance. The
evaluation of the collected data is presented to our clinic colleagues in the form
of a Metabolic Assessment document that becomes a part of the patient’s
electronic medical record.
Matias Kaplan
Faculty Mentor: Jennifer Doudna
Home Institution: University of California, Berkeley
Research Field: Biological Sciences
Structural Insights into Cas9, a Programmable DNA Targeting Enzyme
In order to defend against phage infection, bacteria and archaea have evolved
adaptive immune systems that rely on specialized genomic loci called CRISPR
(clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) and CRISPRassociated proteins (Cas) to degrade foreign DNAs. DNA targets are
recognized and cleaved by a ribonucleoprotein complex comprising CRISPRderived RNAs (crRNAs), which provide specificity via RNA:DNA base-pairing,
and Cas9, which harbors two nuclease domains that cleave the foreign DNA.
Importantly, Cas9:RNA has recently been reengineered to serve as a powerful
new genome editing platform. Despite this success, little is known about the
structure of Cas9 and how its conformation is affected by nucleic acid binding.
In order to gain structural insights, we are using negative-stain electron
microscopy (EM) to monitor Cas9 conformational changes upon its interactions
with crRNA and target DNA. Cysteine-free Cas9 mutants were engineered
allowing for specific labeling by introducing cysteine point mutants. Through a
thiol targeting maleimide reaction, we were able to crosslink a biotin complex
for use in EM. The static data obtained from EM will allow us to build a high
resolution model of conformational changes induced upon DNA binding. This
new information opens the possibility to engineer a second generation of Cas9s
for improved efficiency and currently unexplored applications.
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Rachel Newsome
Faculty Mentor: Steven Bruner
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Biological Sciences
Investigating Human Olfactory Receptor Function Using Structural Biology
Human olfactory receptors (HORs) belong to the G-protein coupled receptor
(GPCR) class of proteins, which are topologically defined as seven
transmembrane helices, connected by three intracellular loops and three
extracellular loops. The signaling pathway of HORs is characterized by the
activation of the receptor via direct binding of a ligand to the binding pocket of
the HOR, resulting in the activation of adenylyl cyclase, and the generation of
an action potential that is then relayed to the brain. Our research seeks to
determine the crystal structure of the first human olfactory receptor in order to
understand the mechanism of ligand binding, and receptor activation.
The gene sequence coding for three HORs were modified to allow the insertion
of bacteriophage T4 lysozyme between the third and fourth intracellular loops,
which has been shown to stabilize GPCRs and allowing for crystal formation.
The recombinant gene sequence was expressed using the commercially
available baculovirus expression system. Current research is focused on the
purification of these receptors for crystallization trials.
Muna Oli
Faculty Mentor: Brent Reynolds
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Health-related (Pharmacy, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing,
Physical Therapy, etc.)
The University of Calgary
Complex adaptive systems (CAS) are changing collections of interacting
components that react to their environments and to one another, an example
being an ant colony in which each ant has a task, and acts on a few basic
principles, yet the entire colony acts as one single organism. If the colony is
threatened by a predator, the CAS is disrupted, and chaos ensues. Cancer cell
biologists are now applying this ecological concept and thinking of a tumor as a
collection of cells and considering how communication disruption may have
implications on tumor progression. It is first important to determine if and how
tumor cells communicate. It is suggested that tumor cell communication occurs
through gap junctions (GJs). GJs are specialized channels that couple adjacent
cells and permit the bidirectional passage of small molecules, allowing cells to
communicate with each other and respond collectively. GJs have been shown
to play a role in the regulation of processes involving cell growth. The role of GJ
coupling in Glioblastoma (GB), and cancer in general is not well characterized.
This research aimed to identify the presence of GJs in GB cells and determine
the ability to down regulate GJ using drugs. GJ were identified through various
techniques. Results indicated that GJ were present between GB cells and could
down regulated by 50%. Tumor heterogeneity is a leading concern within
cancer, and the evaluation of the role of GJs in tumor progression and
treatment resistance could be harnessed as avenues for therapy, and for
furthering our understanding of tumor biology.
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Giselle Pacheco
Faculty Mentor: Peggy Borum
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Health-related (Pharmacy, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing,
Physical Therapy, etc.)
InvestiGators KetoGator Team
The KetoGator Team, a part of the InvestiGators Research Honor Society, is
focused on relieving seizures and comorbidities that result from anti-epileptic
medications by providing Ketogenic Therapy to pediatric patients diagnosed
with intractable epilepsy. Ketogenic Therapy is a high fat, low carbohydrate,
adequate protein diet that has been proven successful in treating various
neurological disorders. Because the mechanism of this therapy is still
unknown, the KetoGator Team is focused on researching the Ketogenic Diet
while monitoring each patient’s progress over time. To ensure that patients are
receiving optimal treatment, the KetoGator Team creates and sends meal
recipes to caregivers. Within the recipe, the caregiver has a list of brandspecific ingredients with gram amounts as well as serving and preparation
suggestions. In order to improve individualized patient care, each patient is
required to attend a clinic visit every three to four months where the KetoGator
Team interviews caregivers and collects anthropometric measurements, diet
records detailing which meals were consumed by the patient, and daily seizure
records. Following the visit, the KetoGator Team enters the collected diet
records into the Nutrition Data System for Research – a comprehensive
database - that allows the KetoGator Team to view the nutritional composition
of each meal the patient received.
Ryan Quiñones
Faculty Mentor: Alan Katritzky
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Physical Sciences
Benzotriazole-Mediated Synthesis of Small and Medium Ring-Sized Cyclic
Peptides
A powerful synthetic method, cyclo-oligomerization allows efficient formation of
various macrocyclic peptides, with the potential to create a plethora of dimer,
trimer, and tetramer macrocycles for applications in medicine, drug design,
and catalysis. Formation of diketopiperazines from intramolecular cyclization of
dipeptide segments of natural amino acids occurs under N-deprotection and
carboxyl group activation. Peptide segments containing β-turn inducing
constraint element increases the difficulty of intra-molecular cyclizations; such
segments include: oxazolines, oxazoles, thiazolines, thiazoles and imidazoles.
Their rigid trans conformations and five-membered ring structures therefore
make them ideal to serve as building blocks for the proposed synthetic
strategies. In our previous investigations, we showed that the synthesis of
cyclo-tetrapeptides can be achieved utilizing a palladium catalyzed tandem
deprotection/macrocyclization strategy with readily available cbz-dipeptidoyl
benzotriazolides. We now report that cbz-dipeptidoyl benzotriazolides can be
cyclized in an intra-molecular or cyclo-oligomerization fashion to access
different peptide macrocycles.
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Timothy Scott
Faculty Mentor: Connie Mulligan
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Humanities
Y-genotyping of haplogroups E and J in the Yemeni population
In the context of understanding human migration, Yemen represents an
essential location along a southern migration route for the colonization of nonAfrican regions. The predominance of J haplogroups in the Arabian Peninsula
and notable frequency in European populations, combined with a prevalence of
the African E haplogroup across multiple continents, suggests these two
haplogroups are ideal for understanding the diffusion of humans between
Europe and Africa. Y-genotyping of 50 randomly sampled Yemeni male
individuals revealed low genetic diversity in the region, while featuring a strong
prevalence of M-267-defined J1 subhaplogroup, comprising 82% of the sample
population. Analysis of these results in conjunction with frequency data
representing regions across Europe and Asia suggests multiple conclusions:
(1) The majority of Yemeni Y chromosome diversity is described by only
haplogroups E and J, suggesting a long-term population history characterized
by small size and geographic isolation, (2) southern Arabia is a good candidate
for the origin of subhaplogroup J1, (3) J1 spread northward throughout the
northern Arabian Peninsula as well as southern Europe. Furthermore, while
there exists a significant frequency of subhaplogroup E1b1 in the southern
Arabian Peninsula as well as throughout southern Europe, the subhaplogroup
is virtually nonexistent in northern Arabia; (4) this result supports two separate
migrations of E1b1 from Africa and restricted gene flow between southern
Arabia and Europe. Yemen provides insight into the peopling of regions as
humans dispersed from Africa
Olga Sinyavskaya
Faculty Mentor: Yona Levites
Home Institution: University of Florida
Research Field: Health-related (Pharmacy, Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing,
Physical Therapy, etc.)
Effects of anti-Tau Immunotherapy of rTg4510 in Tau Transgenic mice
In order to rapidly and cost-effectively evaluate potential modifiers of
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology in mouse models, we have developed a
“somatic brain transgenics” paradigm, established by delivery of gene
constructs packaged into adenoassociated viral vectors and injected into the
cerebral ventricles of P0 mice. The mechanisms underlying the abnormal
phosphorylation and accumulation of Tau in AD remain unclear. Tau is a
microtubule-associated protein, and in the diseased state conformational
changes occurs that cause it to dissociate from microtubules leading to
neurofibrillary tangles. These intracellular aggregates are considered toxic to
some cell functions since typical AD pathology is characterized by plaques of
aβ and the intracellular accumulation of tau. Anti-tau immunotherapy has
recently emerged as a promising approach to target tau, but many mechanistic
questions regarding the optimal form of anti-tau immunotherapy remain. We
have recently observed that targeting phosphorylated tau in rTg4510
transgenic mice by single chain variable fragments (scFv) and intracellularly
expressed intrabodies prevents its pathological accumulation.
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Appreciation to Faculty Mentors
Department
Faculty Mentor
Student
Anthropology
Connie Mulligan
Timothy Scott
Chemistry
Alan Katritzky
Justin Arami
Evan Broggi
Sadra Hamedzadeh
Ryan Quiñones
Chemistry
Leslie Murray
Jesse Gordon
Chemistry
Steven Bruner
Rachel Newsome
Entomology and
Nematology
Emma Weeks
Julie Baniszewski
Food Science and
Human Nutrition
Peggy Borum
Scott Cohen
Ryan Johnson
Giselle Pacheco
Mechanical and
Aerospace
Engineering
Prabir Barooah
George Armanious
Medicine
Roland Staud
Halie Guelfi
Molecular and
Cell Biology
Jennifer Doudna
Matias Kaplan
Neuroscience
Yona Levites
Olga Sinyavskaya
Neurosurgery
Brent Reynolds
Muna Oli
Physical Therapy
David Fuller
Parisa Amirzadehasl
Surgery
Scott Berceli
Leanne Dumeny
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Support
Faculty Support
Dr. Anne Donnelly
Program Director
Donna Jackson
Program Assistant
2013-2014 CURBS Executive Board
Muna Oli
President
Frances Ooi
Co-Vice President
Timothy Scott
Co-Vice President
Mindy Wang
Secretary
Joshua Williams
Treasurer
Bryce Bergeron
Peer Mentoring
Lindsay Orr
Director of Public Relations
Aishwarya Vijayan
Director of Workshops and
Seminars
Alexandra Sabin
Co-Director for K-12 Outreach
(Elementary)
Carolina Sarmento
Co-Director for K-12 Outreach
(Middle School)
Bryce Edwards
Co-Director for K-12 Outreach
(Middle School)
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