Friday, September 3rd, 2010

While students across the country were making the most out of their summer vacation, getting a little rest and relaxation, several Wesleyan students were making the most out of a summer opportunity to gain a little research experience. Over the summer, nine students remained on campus to work with Wesleyan faculty mentors on their biomedical research projects.

“There is a lot of exciting research happening on campus right now,” said Dr. Luke Huggins, associate professor of biology and director of the School of Science. “It has been going so well, in fact, that we have been able to expand beyond just biology and chemistry, and get students from several different fields of study involved.”

Funded by the West Virginia IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence, the on-campus research gave students an opportunity to develop their laboratory skills, explore research as a career, and build relationships with their professors.

While spending the summer conducting research certainly has proven to have positive short-term effects for these students, the outcomes of the research experience will be much more long-lasting and far-reaching. Not only may the research itself influence these students’ career choices and impact their abilities to prosper in graduate school and future jobs, but it may also lead to the development of new drugs to fight cancer and other diseases, as well as to a greater understanding of how the human body works.

“I decided to do research this summer because I wanted to pursue research experience early in my college career,” said Kindra Whitlatch, a sophomore majoring in chemistry with a minor in biology. “I believe that more experience is always better, so when the opportunity presented itself, I was ecstatic.”

Whitlatch worked with her fellow students under the guidance of Dr. Huggins and Dr. Tim Troyer, assistant professor of chemistry. The group worked to determine if the seeds of red mangrove fruit contained anything that could effectively kill bacterial growth or cancer cells. Gabrielle Lafata, a sophomore biology major with minors in chemistry and honors, also participated in the mangrove research. “We arrived close to our goal by nearly isolating a specific antibacterial molecule,” Lafata said. “Once this molecule is completely isolated, we can send it off to pharmaceutical companies where they can use the molecule in a drug to fight off bacteria.”

Nathaniel Linger, a junior biology major with a chemistry minor, worked with Dr. Melanie Sal, assistant professor of biology, on research that could lead to new advances in the treatment of Lyme disease. Linger intends to attend medical or possibly graduate school after graduation, but is very open to the idea of research in the future. “I found this field of study more interesting than I ever imagined it would be, and if the opportunity presents itself to continue in this field of study, I will strongly consider it,” he said.

Whether studying the effects of red mangrove extracts or the motility of the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, the students who worked on campus this summer were grateful for the experience. “Involvement in research such as this as an undergraduate offers students a chance to participate in graduate level studies,” Linger said. “This kind of experience at such an early point in a student’s educational career can prove invaluable as the student either searches for job opportunities or begins looking at higher level education.”

Whitlatch echoes that sentiment: “It is important to note that I was able to do research after my freshman year, something that would never happen at a larger institution. Wesleyan has given me the opportunity to excel in research.”