Student Awardees
Fall 2015
UNDERGRADUATE CANCER RESEARCH AWARDS
(Awarded $74,000 for students and research expenses)
College of Arts & Sciences
Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics
Will Smith—Mentor: John Tomich—Designing a second generation of peptide nano-capsules for intra-cellular release of encapsulated cargo
Emily Wedeman—Mentor: John Tomich—Development of an in-gel digestion standard for the protein interactome
Kayla Wilkinson—Mentor: John Tomich—Preparation of peptide nanotubes using Double Stranded Oligo-Nucleotides as Template
Molly Zych—Mentor: Erika Geisbrecht—Dissecting the subcellular localization and function of the evolutionarily conserved Drosophila Importin-7 (Dim7) protein
Biology
Jaden Anderson—Mentor: Brad Olson—An epigenetic connection to multicellularity that may shed light on the origin of cancer
Heidi Brown—Mentor: Rollie Clem—Identifying genes that regulate cell death in a model organism
Brenden Drouhard—Mentor: Thomas Mueller—The role of the Shh-Dix-Gsh regulatory pathway in neural stem cell development and carcinogenesis using zebrafish as a model: The functional organization of cognitive and emotive brain centers
Melissa Feuerborn—Mentor: Stella Lee—The role of CLN5 protein in autophagy pathway
Kathlyn Gomendoza—Mentor: Lorena Passarelli—Identifying viral and cellular peptides that form a complex with a viral suflhydyl oxidase that oxidizes SfP53, an insect oncogene suppressor homolog
Ian Harmon—Mentor: Katsura Asano—The role of ribosome stalk protein in cancer growth using yeast as a model system
Seyed Efrin Mir Hejazi—Mentor: Rollie Clem—Interactions between proteins involved in regulating cell death
Luke Kicklighter—Mentor: Sherry Fleming—Melanoma induction of tumor vascularity
Elizabeth Martino—Mentor: Lorena Passarelli—Identifying substrates of a viral sulfhydryl oxidase
Joshua May—Mentor: Zhilong Yang—Modulation of mitochondrial functions of cancer cells oncolytic vaccinia virus infection
Jacob Morris—Mentor: Katsura Asano—Molecular basis TISU-mediated translation as possible therapeutic target for cancer metabolism: The role for interaction between initiation factors elF1 and elF4G
Goutham Neravetla—Mentor: Ruth Welti—Analysis of the substrate specificity of two putatively stress-activated lipases
Erika Peters—Mentor: Kathrin Schrick—Functional analysis of the SMART domain, a lipid-binding domain implicated in cancer cell proliferation
Gabrielle Phillips—Mentor: Ruth Welti—Characterization of the catalytic activities of lechithin-retinol acyltransferace-like proteins
Ella Popova—Mentor: Michael Herman—Characterization of C. Elegans defense genes expressed in response to the emerging nosocomial pathogen Stentrophomonas maltophillia that can infect immunocompromised cancer patients
Mitchell Rork—Mentor: Chingakham Ranjit Singh—The roll of translation regulator, 5MP in tumor cell proliferation through ATF4 expression
Adam Schieferecke—Mentor: Stefan Rothenburg—Fighting cancer with viruses: Generation of improved oncolytic poxviruses
Samantha Schluter-Pascua—Mentor: Brad Olson—Cell cycle regulation and evalution of Multicellularity: Identification of candidate multicellularity of genes through evolutionary transcriptomics
Ana Simental—Mentor: Zhilong Yang—Construction of Reporter Plasmids for Oncolytic poxvirus infection study
Laura VanLerberg—Mentor: Zhilong Yang—Generation of directed gene knockout cell line using CRISPR/Cas9 for oncolytic poxvirus replication study
Vaithish Velazhahan—Mentor: Kathrin Schrick—Role of flavonoids in modulating transcription factor activity involved in cancer progression
Dustin Vestering—Mentor: Stefan Rothenburg—Expression and activity of the protein Kinase R in human cancer cells
Spencer Ward—Mentor: Michael Veeman—Par/aPKC dependent and independent mechanisms of asymmetric cell division
Kristen Wilbeck—Mentor: Ruth Welti—Toward identification of novel lipid metabolic genes
Chemistry
Clay Schemm—Mentor: Ryan Rafferty—Systhesis of Chalcone analogs in the efforts of identifying new potentiating small molecules in the treatment of colon and lung cancers
Melissa Small—Mentor: Ryan Rafferty—Total synthesis of Reniochalistatin E and analogs: Studies into new therapies for the treatment of acute Myeloid Leukemia
Yichao Zhang—Mentor: Ryan Rafferty—Personalized drug therapy for colon cancer: Synthetic efforts towards the first total synthesis of cytotoxic agent Lagunamide C and biological evaluation
College of Engineering
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Valerie Binns—Mentor: Punit Prakash—Evaluation of iron oxide nanoparticles as theranostic agents for cancer thermal therapy
Daniel Clausing—Mentor: Punit Prakash—Optimazation of microwave devices with a directional radiation pattern for thermal ablation of tumors in proximity to critical structures
College of Veterinary Medicine
Anatomy & Physiology
Jennifer Delzeit—Mentor: Masa Tamura—Evaluation of the effect surfactant on the gene expression by penetrating peptide nanoparticle vectors
Hayley Holt—Mentor: Masa Tamura—The effect of Parachlorella water extract on TLR expressions in colon carcinoma cells
Kelsey Monson—Mentor: Masa Tamura—Determination of the effect of C1B5 treatment Neutrofil recruitment and T Cell activation in Tumor Stroma
Melissa Riley—Mentor: Bruce Schultz—Interactions of TGF-8 with postaglandins to affect the function and character of male reproductive duct epithelial cells as a prostate cancer model
GRADUATE STUDENT TRAVEL AWARDS
(Awarded: $4,190 - Requested: $5,420)
Biological & Agricultural Engineering
Kimberly Plevniak – Mentor: Mei He ($910)
Meeting: NIH-IEEE 2015 Strategic Conference on Healthcare Innovations and Point-of-Care Technologies for Precision Medicine
Presentation: Smartphone-Based 3D Chip Diagnostic Strategy for Disease Self-Management and Point-of-Care
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Randi Wise – Mentor: Anna Zolkiewska ($740)
Meeting: Amer Assoc for Cancer Research Special Conference on Tumor Metastasis
Poster Presentation: Protein disulfide isomerases in the endoplasmic reticulum promote anchorage-independent growth of breast cancer cells
Yue Qi – Mentor: Anna Zolkiewska ($740)
Meeting: Amer Assoc for Cancer Research Special Conference on Tumor Metastasis
Poster Presentation: ADAM12 is a novel regulator of stem-like cells in triple-negative breast cancer
Chemistry
Tuyen Nguyen – Mentor: Santosh Aryal ($1,800)
Meeting: Material Research Society
Presentation: Multifunctional Theranostics Nanomedicine for Targeted Treatment of Metastatic Breast Cancer to Bone
Spring 2016
GRADUATE STUDENT SUMMER STIPENDS
(Awarded $72,217 - Requested $89,094)
Biology
Anil Pant – mentor: Zhilong Yang
Trisha Rettig – mentor: Keith Chapes
Michael Benfer – mentor: Stella Lee
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Randi Wise – mentor: Anna Zolkiewska
Nicole Green – mentor: Erika Geisbrecht
Susan Whitaker – mentor: John Tomich
Chemistry
Yang Song – mentor: Jun Li
Tuyen Nguyen – mentor: Santosh Aryal
Obdulia Covarrubias-Zombrano – mentor: Stefan Bossmann
Wasu Hulangamuwa – mentor: Ryan Rafferty
Kaimin Jia – mentor: Ping Li
Shu Jia – mentor: Christopher Culbertson
Medha Gunaratna – mentor: Duy Hua
Mohammad Yazdanparast – mentor: Emily McLaurin
Kinesiology
Elizabeth Gittemeier – mentor: Brad Behnke
GRADUATE STUDENT TRAVEL AWARDS
(Awarded $3,950 – Requested $6,585)
Biology
Trisha Rettig – Mentor: Keith Chapes ($800)
Meeting: American Association of Immunologists
Poster Presentation: Characterization of the Normal Mouse Antibody Repertoire
Claire Ward – Mentor Keith Chapes ($700)
Meeting: American Association of Immunologists-Advanced Immunology Training Course
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Nicoleta Ploscariu - Mentor: John Tomich ($700)
Meeting: Experimental Biology 2016 Meeting
Chemistry
Mamomi Perera – Mentor: Christer Aakeroy ($625)
Meeting: Gordon Research Conference: Crystal Engineering
Presentation: Enhancing Solubility and bioavailability of mimics of erlotinib
Bhupinder Sandhu – Mentor: Christer Aakeroy ($625)
Meeting: Gordon Research Conference: Crystal Engineering
Presentation: Establishing supramolecular control over solid state architectures via hydrogen bonding leading to pharmaceutical applications
Food, Nutrition, Dietetics & Health
Xi Chen – Mentor: Weiqun Wang ($233)
Meeting: Experimental Biology 2016
Presentation: Modulation of omega-3 fatty acid profile in the duck liver by various dietary fats
Xiaoyu Su– Mentor: Weiqun Wang ($233)
Meeting: Experimental Biology 2016
Presentation: Characterization of Anthocyanins in Sweet Potato Shoots
Yanting Shen – Mentor: Weiqun Wang ($233)
Meeting: Experimental Biology 2016
Presentation: Identification and Quantification of Carotenoids in Various Phenotypic Sorghum Accessions
POSTDOCTORAL TRAVEL AWARDS
(Awarded $2,982 - Requested $6,076)
Chemistry
Arunkumar Pitchaimani – mentor: Santosh Aryal ($1,000)
Meeting: 2016 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference
Presentation: Gadollinium Infused Theranostic Liposomes for Anticancer Therapy
Biology
Tara Marriage – mentor: Bradley Olson ($982)
Meeting: Evolution 2016
Presentation: Evolution of multicellularity through co-option and transcriptional reprogramming
Electrical & Computer Engineering
Sergio Curto – mentor Punit Prakash ($500)
Meeting: International Congress of Hyperthermic Oncology (ICHO)
Presentation: An intergrated system for delivering hyperthermia to small-animal targets under 14T ultra-high field MRI guidance
Jan Sebek – mentor Punit Prakash ($500)
Meeting: International Congress of Hyperthermic Oncology (ICHO)
Presentation: Sensitivity of microwave ablation models to tissue biophysical properties: application to model-based treatment planning