Congratulations to this year’s Loren E. Wold Research Award winners. The Loren E. Wold Research Awards, established by Biology alumnus Dr. Loren E. Wold (CAS ’97), was designed to support summer research projects and award high-achieving Biology undergraduates working in research labs of faculty.
This year’s award winners are:
Kylie Blake, a senior majoring in Earth and Environmental Science and minoring in Biology, worked with Professor Pamela Templer in the Biology Department. Over the summer of 2019, Kylie worked on conducting a quantitative meta-analysis of global atmospheric phosphorus deposition in rural and urban ecosystems. Originally, Kylie had planned to conduct both field and lab work over the summer to determine how urbanization and forest fragmentation affect phosphorus concentrations in atmospheric deposition, soils, and foliage, but because she was unable to travel to the field sides, she conducted the meta-analysis instead. Kylie conducted a literature review and extracted data from over 55 published papers throughout the summer. She is now working on an analysis of this data, which will be the basis for her Honors Senior Thesis project. Professor Templer reports that Kylie’s work will have implications for understanding how much phosphorus gets deposited from rain and snow and how these can potentially impact the water quality of aquatic ecosystems. Professor Templer expects Kylie will publish this work in a peer-reviewed journal when it is complete. After undergrad, Kylie plans to work in conservation or environmental education before going to graduate school, pursuing research in urban or tropical ecology.
Sarah Anwar, a junior majoring in Biology with a Specialization in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology and Genetics, and minoring in Psychology worked with Professor Laura Lowery at BU School of Medicine in the Department of Hematology and Oncology. Over the summer, Sarah worked on two projects. Her first project was investigating the effects of a possible new cancer drug on cell function. Sarah analyzed time-lapse videos of cells after treatment with the drug to determine changes to the cell’s cytoskeleton. Professor Lowery noted that Sarah, “did a great job examining the data and developing a robust methodology for data analysis.” In addition to this project, Sarah began doing literature research on a new method of blocking cancer metastasis, by targeting septins. From this research, Sarah began writing a research proposal that will be submitted to the NIH. Moving forward, Sarah will continue her work with the Lowery Lab, in addition to supporting another undergrad in the lab who is studying the defects that occur in gene expression in Wolf Hirschhorn Syndrome. They plan to finish validating the data this fall and are currently writing up the manuscript for publication. Sarah plans to go to medical school after graduating.
Kurt Castro, a Marine Science senior, with a minor in Biology, worked with Professor Pete Buston in the Biology Department, investigating how food availability for adult clownfish can affect traits of their larvae, such as swimming speed, body length, and fat content. Kurt started the summer working remotely but was eventually able to start in-person research. For the remainder of the summer, Kurt worked with a Ph.D. student, Robin Francis, to develop protocols to measure traits in larval clownfish. He has continued to collect data and is planning to present this research in the spring as his Senior Honors Thesis for Marine Science. Professor Buston also expects that Kurt will be a collaborator on a publication from Robin’s dissertation. Following graduation, Kurt plans to work in the field of marine biology and ecology. He hopes to return to research either through graduate school or industry.
Megan Sheeran, a senior majoring in Biology with a Specialization in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, and Genetics and minoring in Psychology, worked with Professor Valentina Perissi at BU School of Medicine in the Department of Biochemistry on understanding the role of the NEURL4 protein as a mitochondrial DNA maintenance protein and its role in the cell’s immune response. Megan’s previous projects with the Perissi Lab established this role in HeLa cells. The Loren E. Wold award funded Megan’s current project to expand findings in an additional cell line, C2C12, or mouse myoblast cells. Megan reports understanding the function of NEURL4 in the maintenance of mtDNA and regulation of inflammatory could lay the foundation for the development of new therapies to treat mitochondrial and inflammatory myopathies. While working remotely this summer, Megan contributed to the literature review for a manuscript that will soon be submitted. Megan will continue to work on this paper while resuming other aspects of her project that were put on hold due to lab restrictions this summer. Megan plans on taking a few years after graduating to gain more research experience and then work towards a Ph.D. in cellular or molecular biology.
Thank you again to Dr. Wold for his generous support of our students and congratulations to Kylie, Sarah, Kurt, and Megan!