Stephen Techtmann (Bio Sci/GLRC) is the PI on a project that has received a $239,475 research and development grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior. The project is titled “Bilge Water Microbiomes as Biosignatures of Maritime Provenance.”
This is the first year of a potential three year project totaling $883,735.
Dr. Amy Marcarelli’s lab has a new web blog The Yin and Yang of N in Streams. Follow along as Amy and her students investigate the cycling of the element nitrogen from the back of their van all across the United States. Primary funding for this project comes from a NSF CAREER award.
From our Chair, Dr. Joshi:
Heartiest congratulations to assistant professor Dr. Ebenezer Tumban for receiving his first NIH-R15 grant worth $457,197 for developing a new vaccine to enhance protection against oral HPV infections in HIV patients. This is a three-year project starting September 1, 2016. Dr. Tumban joined us just two years back so this is a great achievement of obtaining substantial extramural funding so fast. Great job, Ebenezer!
The official Tech Today announcement:
Ebenezer Tumban (Bio Sci/LSTI) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $457,197 research and development grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services-National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.) The project is titled, “Development of a Multi-epitope L2 Bacteriophage VLPs Vaccine to Enhance Protection Against Oral HPV Infections in HIV Patients.” This is a three-year project.
From Tech Today:
Amy Marcarelli recently co-authored recently published book chapter: “Stream-lake interaction: understanding a coupled hydro-ecological system.” Pp 321-348 in: Jones JB, Stanley EH (eds) Streams in a Changing Environment. Academic Press.
Casey Hucking co-authored “Genetic and phenotypic evidence for splake presence in brook trout and lake trout spawning habitats,” in the Journal of Great Lakes Research 42(3): 738-742.
Chandrashekhar P. Joshi (Dept. Chair Bio Sci) co-authored “Virus Induced Gene Silencing (VIGS) Mediated Functional Characterization of Two Genes Involved in Lignocellulosic Secondary Cell Wall Formation.” In Plant Cell lReports DOI 10.1007/s00299-016-2039-2.
The Inquisitor published the article “Can this protein cure cancer? Scientists have learned to block tumor ‘messages’ in human cells” that refers to research by Dr. Xiaoqing Tang.
You can read the article here.
Kambrie Boomgaard (Grand Rapids Community College) will be presenting a poster based on research in Dr. Ebenezer Tumban’s research lab.
Her title and abstract are:
Assessing the Solubility of Recombinant Bacteriophage L2 Coat Proteins in Two Bacterial Strains
Kambrie Boomgaard1,, Lukai Zhai2, Ebenezer Tumban2
1Grand Rapids Community College, 2Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University
Abstract:
Currently, there are about 19 human papillomavirus (HPV) types that can cause cervical, penile, and anal cancers. A Second-generation HPV vaccine (Gardasil-9) has been approved to protect against more HPV types. However, the vaccine is going to protect against HPV types that cause only 86-90% of HPV-associated cervical and penile cancers. Complete protection from all HPV-associated cancers requires the addition of HPV L1 capsid from all cancer-causing HPVs. As an alternative approach to L1, we targeted conserved epitopes on L2 capsid protein to elicit broad protection against more HPV types. We developed bacteriophage (phage) MS2 and AP205 virus-like particles (VLPs) displaying a conserved L2 epitope and consensus epitopes from the L2 of all cancer-causing HPV types. Although some of the L2-phage coat proteins assembled efficiently into VLPs, the assembly of other L2-phage coat proteins were sub-optimal. The main goal of this research was to assess if the solubility and assembly of the sub-optimal L2-phage coat proteins could be enhanced by expressing the proteins in two different bacterial strains and at different temperatures. Our preliminary results show that AP205 displaying L2 is expressed and is soluble in Origami cells induced at 37 °C.
by Center for Diversity and Inclusion
Join the Center for Diversity and Inclusion from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday June 16, in MUB Ballroom A where students from Delta College, Grand Rapids Community College and Wayne County Community College who have been participating theMiCUP Residential Summer Research Program will present posters.
Join in a celebration of their accomplishments. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Robert Larson, PhD student in Biological Sciences, has been awarded the 2016 AAS-Lundbeck Research Fellowship as announced on their website. His research is titled ” Targeting Cardiac Sympathetic and Renin Angiotensin Systems with Ang-(1-7) in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy” which will be completed in the Department of Internal Medicine at The University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine with Dr. Mark Chapleau.
The Summary of his research:
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a relatively common inherited disease characterized by cardiac hypertrophy (enlarged heart), fibrosis, and dysfunction. Patients with HCM exhibit abnormal neural reflex control of blood pressure and heart rate, and are at high risk of developing heart failure, arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Current treatment strategies primarily target symptoms and not development of the disease. We propose a novel treatment strategy with Angiotensin-(1-7), a peptide known to diminish sympathetic nerve activity and the pro-fibrotic and pro-hypertrophic actions of angiotensin II. We hypothesize that a combination of sustained inhibition of cardiac sympathetic activity and inhibition of adverse cardiac actions of angiotensin II will act synergistically to prevent or reverse cardiac fibrosis, hypertrophy and arrhythmias in HCM. We will test this hypothesis using an established mouse model of HCM, in which a human mutation is targeted selectively to the heart.
Robert will be completing his degree under Kineseology and Integrative Physiology Adjunct Professor Qing-Hui Chen this summer.
Congratulations from Biological Sciences!
by Sponsored Programs
From Tech Today
The Ecosystem Science Center congratulates all 36 students who submitted posters to the competition held last week. The posters will continue to be on display in the atrium of the Noblet building through April 8.
Of the eight undergraduate poster submissions, Graceanna Schilz (Advisor: Molly Cavaleri SFRES) won the grand prize with the poster entitled “Effects of Seedling Warming in Tropical Forests.” Gina Testa (Advisors: Jessie Knowlton and David Flaspohler, SFRES) won a merit award with the poster “Avian Community Responses to Stand Age in Northern Aspen Forests.”
For the 28 graduate poster entries, Kelsey Carter won the grand prize for the poster “Plant Physiological Thermal Thresholds of Saplings in a Puerto Rican Tropical Rainforest,” (Advisor: Molly Cavaleri, SFRES). Three merit winners were: Cameron Goble (Advisor: Nancy Auer, Bio. Sci.) with the poster “Fish-Habitat Associations in Tributaries to the Manistee River, Michigan: Implications for Arctic Grayling Restoration,” Colin Phifer (Advisors: David Flaspohler and Chris Webster, SFRES) for the poster “Bird Community Responses to Afforested Eucalyptus Plantations in Argentina,” and Ryan van Goethem (Advisor: Amy Marcarelli, Bio. Sci.) for the poster “Legacy Disturbance Effects in a Lake Littoral Zone: Effects of Stamp Sands on the Structure of Macrophyte Communities in the Keweenaw Waterway of Michigan.”
Congratulations to the winners and thank you again to the many judges involved.
UPDATED: Link to the official news release in Tech Today.
Excerpted from an email from Lorelle Meadows, Dean Pavlis Honors College congratulating the winners of the Undergraduate Research Expo:
“During the Expo, all of the posters were judged by a minimum of 2 faculty judges. The researchers receiving the highest average scores are:
1st Place Gina Testa, Wildlife Ecology and Management
“Avian Community Responses to Stand Age in Northern Aspen Forests”
2nd Place Hannah Marti, Biomedical Engineering (who worked in Dr. John Durocher‘s laboratory)
“The Effects of Changes in Fitness and Fatness on Aortic Pulsatility”
3rd Place Olivia Ingram, Biological Sciences ( who worked in Dr. Kevin Trewartha‘s lab in Cognitive Learning Sciences)
“The Role of Implicit Memory Processes in Age-Related Declines in Motor Learning”
Congratulations! These students will all receive a small token, a $20 gift card to dining services, lunch with the Vice President for Research and an invitation to receive their certificate at the Annual Student Leadership Awards Reception.
Expo visitors also voted on an audience choice award and we have a remarkable three-way tie. The winners of this award are: Olivia Ingram, Lewis Marshall and Abbey Senczyszyn. Winners of the audience choice award may stop our office beginning tomorrow to retrieve your audience choice prize.”