Department of Biology
Alisa Alayan worked in the laboratory of Dr. Richard Gillis (Dept of Pharmacology). Alisa studied the role of mu-opioid receptors in the medial nucleus of the solitary tract in the modulation of gastric tone and mobility by regulation of GABA receptors. This research contributes to the understanding of the negative secondary effects of therapeutic opioid use in chronic pain management and to the development of pharmacologic counter measures for these drug effects.
Amalia Aruda worked in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Armbruster (Dept. of Biology). Amalia characterized the molecular components of the diapause response in the Asian Tiger Mosquito Aedes albopictus. The diapause response of this mosquito has rapidly evolved over the past few decades, permitting it to invade more northern latitudes where it can transmit disease. Her research has importance in understanding the molecular mechanisms that underlie this rapid evolutionary adaptation as well as provide a foundation for developing strategies for controlling this insect vector.
Gretchen Edwards worked in the laboratory of Dr. Barney Graham (Vaccine Research Center, NIH). Gretchen studied the response of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes to evaluated the hierarchy of immuno-dominance observed upon infection with respiratory syncytial virus, RSV. This research contributed to understanding further the molecular response underlying role of these lymphocytes in viral infection and more specifically the antigen receptor interactions that occur in response to RSV infection.
George Ferzli worked in the laboratory of Dr. Elena Casey (Dept of Biology). George examined the molecular mechanism of neural induction in Xenopus laevis. Specifically, he examined the regulation of expression of a series of early neural transcription factors in response to FGF stimulation at the onset of gastrulation.
Adnan Karim worked in the laboratory of Dr. Maria Donoghue (Dept of Biology). Adnan studies the role of epherin (Eph) ligand and receptor pathways in regulation of innervation of the murine whisker pad. The whisker pad model provides unique opportunities to study the mechanism that mediate the very precise developmental events leading to spatially regulated patterns of synaptic communication between the CNS and of sensory receptors.
Justin Lee worked in the laboratory of Dr. Joseph Neale (Dept of Biology). Justin pursued the development of a completely novel pharmacotherapy for treatment of schizophrenia. Specifically, he tested inhibitors of the inactivation of the peptide neurotransmitter, N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG) in animal models of this profound emotional disorder.
Michael Lee worked in the laboratory of Dr. Joseph Neale (Department of Biology). Michael used a novel radiochemical assay to determine the efficacy of a novel drug that inhibited the enzymes that hydrolyze/inactivate the peptide transmitter NAAG. While these drugs had been characterized for their inhibition in vitro, Michael determined their efficacy in the brain following systemic application. His data advanced understanding of the efficacy of this inhibitor in animal models of inflammatory pain, traumatic brain injury and schizophrenia.
Kathryn Lehigh worked in the laboratory of Dr. Maria Donoghue (Dept of Biology). Katkhryn characterized the expression patterns of the Eph receptor tyrosine kinases and their ligand in the segregation of cells in the mammalian thalamus during development. This research contributes to understanding how the nervous systems sorts out its patterns of synaptic connections during development and provides insight into developmental failures.
Adeline Plesiu worked in the laboratory of Dr. Gerard Ahern (Dept of Pharmacology). Adeline studied the role of the calcium sensing receptor and the metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 in regulating the vanilloid 1 ion channel. This ion channel is centrally involved in the activation of sensory neurons in the pain pathway. Understanding the mechanisms by which the vanilloid channel is regulated provides the foundation for development of novel analgesics.
Nirica Borges Lab: Dr. Heidi Elmendorf (Dept. of Biology)
Research: Isolating and purifying a newly discovered variant surface protein in the cell membrane of the free-living diplomonad Trepomonas agilis (an organism in the same monophyletic clade as Giardia lamblia) and characterizing its angtigenicity based on the immune response produced in mice.
Michael DeStefano Lab: Dr. Joseph Neale (Dept. of Biology)
Research: My research tests the hypothesis that glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) and glutamate carboxypeptidase III (GCPIII) are differentially expressed in the nervous system and that this expression reflectws their specific roles in the inactivation of the neurotransmitter N-acetylaspartylglutamate (NAAG).
Kirk Lohmueller Lab: Dr. Lee-Jun Wong (Institute for Molecular and Human Genetics, Georgetown Univ.)
Research: Performing association studies of numerous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with hypertension in different populations; also examining the evolutionary history and haplotype structure of genes associated with hypertension.
Daniel Levinson Lab:
Research:
Katharine Long Lab: Katharine Carr (Department of anatomy and Genetics, Oxford University)
Research: This research project investigated the hypothesis that the female hormones estrogen progesterone and prolactin increased microparticle permeability across tight junctions in the small intestine.
Victoria Rafalski Lab:Dr. Joseph Neale (Dept. of Biology)
Research: Characterizing one of the enzymes that inactivates the dipeptide neurotransmitter, NAAG
Noreen Bukhari Lab: Dr. Joseph Neale (Dept. of Biology)
Research: Characterizing the behavior and NAAG levels in the brains of mice in which the gene for an enzyme that inactivates this peptide neurotransmitter has been knocked out.
Brent Gilmore Lab: Dr. Mary Beth Martin (Lombardi Cancer Center)
Research: Investigating the effects of temperature on the funcational ability of estrogen receptors in MCF-7 cells (breast cancer cell line)
Louis Licamele Lab: Dr. Josef Rauschecker (Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics)
Research: Training rhesus monkeys for audioperception tasks such as responding to monkey calls in order for electrophysiological recordings of auditory cortex in activity to be performed later on; also designing appealing visual representations of monkey calls on the computer
Mehrak Marzban Lab: Dr. Brian Howell (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD)
Research: Investigating the hypothesis that overexpression of Bas1 in conjunction with expression of tau affects Drosophila viability, CNS organization and tau phosphorylation.
Olumide Ojeifo Lab: Dr. Joseph Neale (Dept. of Biology)
Research: Determining the level of mRNA in brain for a novel enzyme that inactivates the peptide transmitter, NAAG.
Andreas Rauschecker Lab: Dr. Josef Rauschecker (Dept. of Physiology and Biophysics)
Research: Performing electrophysiological recordings of non-primary auditory areas of monkey auditory cortex, such as the superior temporal gyrus, in awake behaving rhesus macaques in order to better understand how processing of various complex acoustical signals occurs in the brain.
Iga Wegorzewska Lab: Dr. Joseph Neale (Dept. of Biology)
Research: Characterizing the behavior of mice in which the gene for an enzyme that inactivates the neurotransmitter, NAAG, has been knocked-out, and determining the expression of mRNA for the metabotropic glutamate receptor, mGluR3, in these mice.
Rachel Adams Lab: Dr. Matt Hamilton (Dept. of Biology)
Research: Attempting to establish an accurate phylogeny of the angiosperm family, Lupinis, which is important to the study of whether floral color change in Lupinus is a result of selection, genetic drift, or a combination of the two in a "drift-selection balance."
Alexander Baras Lab: Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Research: DNA chip technology, specifically Affymetric GeneChips, for gene analysis in clinical studies correlating drug response with cancer genotypes
Connie Chan Lab: Dr. John Richert (Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology)
Research: Identifying polymorphisms in the promoter region of Sp3 in relation to development of multiple sclerosis.
Young Choe Lab:Dr. Mark Danielsen (Dept. of Biochemistry)
Research: Identifying a possible protein important in the p53 pathway
David Fernandez Lab: Dr. Clarke
Research: Studying the protein IRF-1 and the correlation between expression of that protein and various types of antiestrogen resistance in breast cancer cell lines.
Justin Kopa Lab: Dr. Steve Singer (Dept. of Biology)
Research: Engineering a strain of Giardia that secretes bioactive Interleukin (IL-6) as part of the investigation of the role of IL-6 in the immunological pathway that organisms use to control Giardia lamblia infections; also used QCRT-0PCR to determine if levels of IL-6 change in the gut during infections
Efua Leke Lab: Dr. Diane Taylor (Dept. of Biology)
Research: Investigating one epitope of the antigen, the Circumsporozoite Protein (CSP), and its possible relation to patterns of malaria immunity in women of different gravidity (different numbers of pregnancies)
Vikram Palanivel Lab: Dr. Anne Rosenwald (Dept. of Biology)
Research: Studying the effects of inhibition of the nucleotide cycle of Arl1, a G-protein that is believed to have a role in regulation of membrance traffic, in Sacromyces cervisea on viability and sensitivity to various drugs
Christopher Richards Dr. Diane Taylor (Dept. of Biology)
Research:Comparing the cytokine microenvironments in the placental and peripheral blood of malaria-positive and malaria-negative women, and investigating the contributors to the placental immunological microenvironment during placental malaria infections.