While acquiring knowledge across many subdisciplines within Biology is important, it is also equally important to be able to use that knowledge to apply to contemporary issues within society. I believe that the Biology Department does an amazing job with this by constantly using examples of current issues through both lectures and labs to help facilitate our learning. Some of the most memorable projects that I have done highlighting this skill are from courses such as Perspective in Toxicology, Senior Capstone in Biology, and Advanced Research in Biology.
The Perspectives in Toxicology is a new course being offered to all majors and levels in order to show all different aspects of toxicology there are from an environmental view to a criminal view as well as scientific research on specific toxins in general. This course did not include a lab as it was a perspectives course however we were allowed to participate in many projects that were designed to make us connect our learnings to the real world around us. One of the assignments I was given was to give a 15-minute case study presentation relating to a specific toxin. For my presentation, I chose to discuss Ecuador oil toxicity which has become a huge problem not only for the indigenous people living in these contaminated areas but also the environment and wildlife that also live there. I was able to explain the mechanism of action that polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), one of the main toxins in crude oil, take within the body and what the potential toxic effects for acute and chronic exposure are. This is still an ongoing issue for many people living in Ecuador as recent as the Summer of 2019 when a group of Longwood students traveled there and witnessed this firsthand. Below is my PowerPoint presentation that I presented for the class in the Fall of 2019.
In my Senior Capstone course, our semester long project is to write a research proposal on a topic of our choice. While I am very invested in research, I struggled for a while to come up with a novel proposal until one day in my Molecular Mechanisms of Disease course. Weekly we discuss scientific literature relating to a specific topic and this week was bacterial secretion systems. This was not necessarily a new topic to me but opened my eyes to a tool that I could use for the basis of my proposal. I decided to write my proposal investigating the use of bacterial secretion systems as a therapeutic intracellular delivery system for insulin to treat diabetes. From my research, I have learned at bacteria can produce human insulin when given the proper genes and modified bacteria can be successfully administered orally in rats. I have created a proposed methods plan if this research would continue. Below is my research proposal poster that I have present at Longwood University’s Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry in 2020.
Therapeutic Intracellular Delivery of Insulin via Bacterial Secretion Systems to Treat Diabetes
As a Biology major, we are required to complete some form of an internship before we graduate, and I did this by conducting research alongside a professor. I fell in love with this so much that I have been conducting the same research for over 2.5 years under the Advanced Research in Biology course. My research relates to current issues within society by investigating the effects that some cancer mutations have on a DNA damage response protein using yeast as our model organism. In basic terms, the main goal of my research is to be able to quickly screen cancer mutations to identify if they disrupt the normal function of a protein which may lead to the development of cancer since not all mutations will. This is important because in this ever-growing technological age it may become possible to screen people for these “harmful” mutations that put them at a higher risk of developing cancer in order to help develop preventative measures. Based on my research, I have been able to distinguish between mutations that have no effect on normal function and mutations that completely halt normal function. Below is my most recent poster that I have presented at Longwood University’s Spring Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry in 2020.
Using S. cerevisiae to screen cancer mutations in the DNA damage response pathway
These are only a few of the many projects that I have completed during my time here at Longwood that showcase my ability to apply my knowledge to contemporary issues within society.