Senior Thesis Titles 2006

ASHLEY E. AMICK

Memory persistence through metamorphosis in the Lepidoptera Manduca sexta.
Elena Casey, Department of Biology

SHAHINE BAGHAI

Quantifying NAAG release from DRG cells involved in the pain pathway via radioimmunoassay.
Joseph H. Neale and Tomasz Bzdega, Department of Biology

CAITLIN BARRETT

Glatiramer acetate (Copaxone) as a treatment for multiple sclerosis.
Michael Hickey, Department of Biology

CATHERINE BENNET

A line-attenuated vaccine for HIV-1: Ultimately impractical but currently indispensable.
Diane Taylor, Department of Biology

MORGAN BLISS

Learning together: Teaching high school biology
Ellen Henderson, Department of Biology

ANN BOBEL

Abundance, flight patterns, and habitat preference of Diplazon laetatorius compared with all other ichneumonids (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) in Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, Virginia
Edward M. Barrows, Department of Biology

HORACE “JORY” CAULKINS, V

Deletion of the BAS1 gene in Candida albicans: adenine metabolic pathway and its phenotypic consequences.
Ronda J. Rolfes, Department of Biology

KEVIN CHEN

Wnt/Frizzled signaling in osteosarcoma.
Jeffrey Toretsky and Aykut Uren, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center; and, Anne Rosenwald, Department of Biology

BAO Q. CHUNG

Soil mites and invasive plants in the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, Virginia.
Edward M. Barrows, Department of Biology

LESLIE CLARACAY

Increasing protein content in a calorie-restricted ketogenic diet reduces the severity of seizures induced by maximal electroshock.
Douglas Eagles, Department of Biology

MERRIAH CROSTON

Membrane traffic and K+ homeostasis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Anne Rosenwald, Department of Biology

JULIE DEVINE

Sox21 alters the development of anterior structures in early Xenopus laevis.
Elena Casey, Department of Biology

JOHN H. DZUNDZA

Investigations of the putative function of three novel OBP-like proteins in Aedes albopictus.
Peter Armbruster, Department of Biology

HIMABINDU EKANADHAM

An illusory illusion? The role of spatial attention in the McGurk effect.
Guinevere Eden and Elizabeth Hoffman, Center for the Study of Learning; and Douglas Eagles, Department of Biology

EDWARD P. FENLON, III

Conditional expression of Sox21 in Xenopus laevis through the use of glucocorticoid receptor.
Elena Casey, Department of Biology

PAUL FIORILLI

Examination of the role of the gene PHO2 in the adenine biosynthetic pathway in the pathogenic yeast Candida albicans.
Ronda J. Rolfes, Department of Biology

MEGHAN ADELE GICK

Sibling relationships in bottlenose dolphin calves.
Janet Mann, Department of Biology

JONATHAN E. GRUDIS

Polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation of calorie-restricted ketogenic diets: a metabolic analysis of seizure suppression in male Sprague-Dawley rats.
Douglas Eagles, Department of Biology

MELANIE HALL

Addressing diverse learning styles and using the scientific method to increase student learning.
Heidi Elmendorf, Department of Biology

MARY ALEXIS HEALEY

Teaching scientifically: using the scientific method as a framework for teaching high school biology.
Maya Patel, Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship and the Department of Biology

JONATHAN M. IACCARINO

Assessment planning in a ninth-grade biology classroom: How are we testing our students?
Lori Estes and Heidi Elmendorf, Department of Biology

AHMAD ALI KARIM

Etiology and prognosis of urticaria in chronically ill patients.
Lori Estes, Department of Biology

AMBERT LOUIS

A critical analysis of the literature: an evaluation of the growing field of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and its implications for the health care of the general public.
George B. Chapman, Department of Biology

CARA MARIE A. MANLANDRO

The ability of Sit4p to promote K+ efflux via Nha1p is modulated by Sap155p and Sap185p.
Anne G. Rosenwald, Department of Biology

ERIN C. MURPHY

Studies of the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus gastric vagal pathways to the stomach using neuropeptides and NMDA
Richard a. Gillis, Department of Pharmacology; and Joseph H. Neale, Department of Biology

PATRICIA M. NOTARIO

Identification and characterization of dopamine receptor D3 binding partners in the kidney.
John E. Jones and Pedro A. Jose, Pediatric Nephrology Department; and Ellen Henderson, Department of Biology

TIMOTHY M. NYWENING

Thermal stress tolerance among North American populations of the Asian Tiger Mosquito, Aedes albopictus.
Peter Armbruster, Department of Biology

NATHAN J. PARKER

The role of JAK/STAT signaling in the IL-6 mediated regulation of disaccharidase activity in Caco-2 cells.
Steven Singer

NATALIE PICA

Effects of over-expression of AIB1 and AIB1-Delta3 conditionally targeted to mammary epithelial cells of transgenic mice.
Priscilla Furth, Department of Oncology; and, Ellen Henderson, Department of Biology

CORINNE M. RHODES

Developmental expression and the role of the peripheral-type benzodiazepine receptor (PBR) in testicular germ cells.
Martine Culty, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

LOURDES MARIA SANSO

Teaching biology using an inquiry-based approach and real-world application.
Lori Estes, Department of Biology

MARIETTA E. SHAPIRO

A bioinformatics examination of the cytoskeleton of Giardia lamblia.
Heidi Elmendorf, Department of Biology

RYAN SHAY

Life history differentiation among geographic populations of North American Aedes albopictus.
Peter Armbruster, Department of Biology

CHRISTINE SHULSE

The role of KIR2DL4 in the occurrence of graft versus host disease following hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
Carolyn Hurley, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center; and, Diane Taylor, Department of Biology

SWATI SIKARIA

Investigation of KIR2DL3 diversity in recipients of bone marrow transplant with mild and severe graft versus host disease and their unrelated donors.
Noriko Steiner and Carolyn Hurley, Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center; and, Ellen Henderson, Department of Biology

LAURA N. SLAVIN

Increased protein content in calorie-restricted diets increases weight gain and decreases MES-induced seizure severity but does not affect PTZ-induced seizure threshold.
Douglas Eagles, Department of Biology

STEPHANIE STEELE

The role of fibroblast growth factor binding proteins in zebrafish embryonic development.
Beth Roman, Department of Cell Biology; and, Elena Casey, Department of Biology

KATHLEEN TIBBETTS

Investigations into the structure and function of Trk1p, the principle K+ transporter of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
Anne Rosenwald, Department of Biology

PATRICK J. TIERNEY

Learning biology through community-based teaching: exploring the theory and practice of science education.
Ellen Henderson and Heidi Elmenforf, Department of Biology

BENJAMIN VACCARO

Expression and characterization of chloroquine transport in inside-out vesicles harboring PfCRT.
Paul Roepe, Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry; and, Ellen Henderson, Department of Biology

BRINTHA VASAGAR

Teaching biology through the Georgetown University-McKinley Technology High School Partnership: the mutual benefits for college and high school students.
Ronda J. Rolfes and Heidi G. Elmendorf, Department of Biology

GREG VILLALOBOS

Identification of NKX3.1 and topoisomerase I binding in the prostate.
Edward P. Gelmann and Cai Bowen, Prostate Oncology Department; and, Ellen Henderson, Department of Biology

RENEE C. WLODARCZYK

Teaching biology at McKinley Technical High School.
Peter A. Armbruster and Heidi G. Elmendorf, Department of Biology

NATALIE WOLKOW

Identifying natural antisense transcripts for the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor.
Vassilios Papadopoulos, Biomedical Graduate Research Organization Director

LOUISE WONG

Insertion of the giardia lamblia VSPH7 coding sequence into cloning and expression vectors.
Steven M. Singer

KRISTIN YATES

Identification of actin-binding proteins in Giardia lamblia.
Heidi Elmendorf, Department of Biology