Department of Biology
Student Research 
 CBU Biology Department
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School of Sciences Student Research
All CBU Biology students have an opportunity to participate in research.  CBU Biology students conduct their senior research either with one of the department's faculty, or with a researcher off campus, for example, at one of the University of Tennessee at Memphis graduate colleges, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the University of Memphis, the Memphis Zoo, or in Brazil or Uganda through the MHIRT program.  Here is a Slide Show that explains the CBU Biology student research program.  Many of these student research projects result in papers published in peer-reviewed journals.  All CBU Biology students present their research at CBU's Annual Student Research Poster Session and they have several other opportunities to present their research including the annual Tennessee Academy of Science (TAS) Western Regional Collegiate Division meeting.  CBU Biology seniors (and some juniors) present research papers and the abstracts are published in the Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science.  CBU students invariably make some of the strongest presentations at this annual TAS meeting.  CBU Biology Student Bobby Lawrence at the 2007 Research Poster Session
2010 CBU Research Poster Session2010 TAS Meeting
Our students receive good preparation and support which fosters their considerable success in undergraduate research.  For example, CBU's chapter of Alpha Chi received a Star Chapter Award in May 2010 at the Supraregional meeting in Little Rock. Mary Jane Dickey presented a paper entitled The Importance of Chloride Ions: Cystic Fibrosis. Caitlin Ashley presented a paper entitled Comparing the Amplification of White Spot Syndrome Virus Genes with Different Primers..  In fall of 2006, Sheharyar Minhas received a statewide second-place award in the Cell and Molecular Oral Presentation session at the Tennessee Academy of Science (TAS) meeting at Austin Peay University.
CBU Biology Students at the 2007 Research Poster Session
CBU Biology Students at the 2008 TAS Meeting
On Saturday, April 5, 2008, fourteen CBU students presented papers at the 2008 Tennessee Academy of Science Western Regional Collegiate Meeting held in Ellington Hall at the University of Memphis. Session I: Jason Porter, Nhu Truc Le, Eric A. Davis; Session II: Sami Helou, Angela D. Metz, Rebecca Scott, Casey C. Nazor, Indre Augustinaite, Phillip P. Nguyen;  Session III: Indrani Biswas, Kimberly Williams, Brian Walter, Jeremy T. Armstrong, Michael Herr. The overwhelming consensus is that they each did an excellent job. CBU Biology students received three of the four Best Paper Awards. (There was a tie for the Award for Session III.) Best Paper Awards were presented to the following CBU students:
  • Rebecca Scott for her Session II presentation, "Para-ts Mutant Flies Show Neuronal Damage After Ischemic Injury" (coauthored with Lawrence Reiter, Neurology, U T Health Science Center)
  • Jeremy T. Armstrong for his Session III presentation, "Macular Pigment Optical Density’s Role in Macular Physiology and Disease" (coauthored with Alessandro Iannaccone, Ophthalmology, U T Health Science Center)
  • Kimberly Williams for her Session III presentation, "Maintenance of Beta Adrenergic Receptor Signaling in Human Microvascular Retinal Endothelial Cells" (coauthored with Jena J. Steinle, Ophthalmology, U T Health Science Center)
In spring 2007, Dr. Malinda Fitzgerald took four CBU students to the National Convention for Alpha Chi in San Antonio on March 15-18.  Three CBU students made presentations, two of these students were biology majors and one was an engineering major with a biology minor.  Sana Mujahid presented "Characterization of Lysophosphatidic Acid 3 Receptor Using Computationally Guided Site-directed Mutagenesis." Sheharyar Minhas presented "Incorporation of HA into H5N1 Vaccine Virus is Independent of Matrix Gene Origin."  Ashley Prevost presented "CpG Island Methylation in Prostate Cancer Cell Line." Jennifer Aldrich attended as the voting member and the junior class representative.
CBU Biology Students at the 2007 TAS Meeting
In March 2007, seventeen CBU Biology seniors (see the photo above) presented papers at the2007 Tenneessee Academy of Science (TAS) Western Regional Collegiate Division meeting hosted by LeMoyne Owen College.  CBU biology students received three of the first place awards in the four divisions in which they participated.
  • Kanika Townsend won first place in the Social Sciences division for her paper, "Diabetes prevalence trends among African-Americans and Hispanics: 2001-2003" (coauthored with L. M. Brown, Univ. Tennessee Health Science Center-College of Pharmacy, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences).
  • Sana Mujahid won first place in the Physiology division for her paper, "Characterization of the dioctylglycerol pyrophosphate-binding pocket of lysophosphatidic acid 3 receptor" (coauthored with Yuko Fujiwara, Ryoko Tsukahara, William J. Valentine, and Gabor J. Tigyi, Dept. of Physiology, Univ. Tennessee Health Science, Memphis).

    • Sheharyar Minhas won first place in the Molecular Biology division for his paper, "Incorporation of HA into H5N1 vaccine virus is independent of matrix gene origin"(coauthored with Richard Webby, Dept. of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis).
CBU Biology students (with Dr. Fitzgerald, center) at the 2006 TAS meeting
In March 2006, fifteen CBU Biology seniors (see photo above) presented their research at the 2006 TAS Western Regional Collegiate Division meeting held at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.  Two CBU student students received awards.
  • Best Paper Session 2: Sheharyar Minhas, "Effect of glycosylation on CTL epitope presentation from influenza neuraminidase."

    • Best Paper Session 3: Jennifer Hendrick, "Abdominal compartment syndrome in a newly diagnosed patient with Burkitt's lymphoma."
In March 2005, fifteen CBU Biology students presented research papers at the 2005 TAS Western Regional Collegiate Division meeting held at CBU.
CBU Biology Students at 2005 TAS Meeting
Above: 13 of the CBU TAS 2005 participants with Br. Edward Salgado (middle right) and Dr. Fitzgerald (top right).
 Three CBU students received awards.
  • 1st Place, Christopher Sage: "Role of membrane synthesis in macrophage function"  (Coauthor Suzanne Jackowski at the Protein Science Division, Dept. of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis).
  • Tie-2nd Place, Cynthia Caceres: "The effects of SXR RNA expression in CD4+ cells."  (Coauthors Lorraine Sutton, Michael L. Vetter, Maria Pia De Pasquale, Richard T. D’Aquilaat Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology and Division of Infectious Diseases, Dept. of Medicine, Vanderbilt Univ. Medical Center, Nashville).
  • Tie-2nd Place, Christen N. Gregory: "Irinotecan pharmacogenetic studies in pediatric cancer patients."(Coauthor Kristine R. Crews at Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis).
In April 2004, nine CBU Biology students presented their research at the 2004 TAS Western Regional Collegiate Division meeting held at Rhodes College.
CBU Biology Students at the 2004 TAS Meeting
Above: CBU TAS 2004 participants (with Bro. Edward Salgado and Dr. Fitzgerald on the left)
Scott Adelman with CBU Faculty at the 2003 TAS Meeting
Above: Br. Edward Salgado, Dr. Anna Ross, Scott Adelman, and Dr. Mary Ogilvie.		 In April 2003, twenty CBU Biology students presented papers at the 2003 TAS Western Regional Collegiate Division meeting held at Union University.

Scott Adelman received one of the two best paper awards.

  • C. Scott Adelman: "Clinical and imaging parameters that predict the development and duration of typhlitis in pediatric oncology patients" (Coauthors:M. B. McCarville, M. Lee, D. Alsamarre, and J.T. Sandlund)

 
In the March 2002, sixteen CBU Biology students presented papers at the 2002 TAS Western Regional Collegiate Division meeting held at LaMoyne-Owen College.  Reem Awwad and Tenitia Hobson, pictured on the right, each received best of the session awards.
  • Reem Awwad: best paper in session award for her paper, "Heat Shock Protein 70 in Pregnancy and Preeclampsia." Coauthors: Dr. Jeffrey Livingston and Dr. Robert Ahokas.
  • Tenitia Hobson: best paper in session award for her paper, "Effects of chytrid fungus on life history traits in larval Vyla versicolor."  Coauthor: Dr. Matthew Parris.
  • The paper Jason Higdon presented, "Purkinje cell degeneration (pcd) phenotypes caused by mutations in the axotomy-induced gene Nna," coauthored with A. Fernandez-Gozalea, A. Spada, J. Threadway, B. Harris, R. Sidman, J. Morgan, and J. Zuo, was published in Science 295:1904-1906.
 CBU Best Paper Award recipients at the 2002 TAS Meeting

 
Best Paper Award recipients at the 2001 TAS Meeting
Above:  The four best paper award recipients.
From left to right: Rachel Rome (CBU), Jessie Morgan (CBU), 
Lewis Pearson (CBU), and Brent Morris (Union U.)
  • Lewis Pearson tied for best paper in the second session with his paper: "The Role of GABA in Synaptogenesis Between Horizontal Cells and Photoreceptor Cells in the Mammalian Retina." Coauthors: D. A. Johnson, Dept. of Ophthalmology, U.T. Memphis and M.E.C. Fitzgerald, Dept. of Biology, CBU.
 In March 2001, CBU Biology students won three of the four best paper awards at the 2001 TAS Western Regional Collegiate Division meeting held at the University of Memphis.
  • Rachel Rome tied for best paper in the first session with her paper: "Morphological Investigation of Neurospheres." Coauthors: Eric Laywell and Dennis Steindler, Dept. of Anatomy and Neurobiology, U.T., Memphis and Malinda Fitzgerald, Dept. of Biology, CBU.
  • Jessie Morgan tied for best paper in the first session with her paper: "N-Benzyladriamycin-14-valerate (AD198) Induces the Release of Mitochondrial Cytochrome C Despite the Expression of Bcl-2." Coauthors: Leonard Lothstein and Tina Barrett, Dept. of Pharmacology, U.T. Memphis.
In March 2000, CBU students won seven of the nine best of the session awards at the 2000 TAS Western Regional Collegiate Division meeting held at CBU.
  • Amy Fallon tied for best paper in session with her paper, "The Role of Polyamines in Migration of Cultured Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells."
  • Nicole Walker tied for best paper in session with her paper, "Morphological Investigation of Neurospheres."
  • James Allen tied for best paper in session with his paper, "Dimethylarginine Diaminohydrolase Activity in Mouse Tissue Supernatant."
  • F.H. "Rusty" Rodriquez tied for best paper in session with his paper, "IL-17 Receptor Knockout Mice Exhibit Reduced Resistance to Klebsiella pneumoniae Infection."
  • Kathrin L. Brown tied for best paper in session with her paper, "Genetic Polymorphisms in Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Gene and the Development of Preeclampsia - a preliminary study."
  • Amisha Gandhi tied for best paper in session with her paper,  "Upregulation of MDR1 by mutant p53 requires interaction with a cellular protein."
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    Best Paper Award recipients at the 2000 TAS Meeting
    Pictured above are seven of the nine winners at TAS 2000.
    From left to right: Elizabeth Serex (Rhodes College), Amy Fallon (CBU), Roberto Martinez (CBU), Amisha Gandhi (CBU), Kathrin Brown (CBU), F.H."Rusty" Rodriguez (CBU), and Aimee S. Dunlop-Lehtila (U. of Memphis).
    Not pictured are Nicole Walker (CBU) and James Allen (CBU).
    • Roberto Martinez tied for best paper in session with his paper, "A Generalization and Analysis of Lambert's W-Function."

     
    At the 1999 TAS meeting, CBU Biology students received three of the five best of the session awards, and two of these students won the top two overall awards.

    Pictured to the right are four of the twenty CBU student presenters at the Spring 1999 Tennessee Academy of Sciences meeting.  From left to right: Angel Barritt, Brinson Boyte, Suzana Malik, and Ash Rasoul.

    • Marlo Anderson won a best session award and a best overall presenter award for her paper, "Effectiveness of primer R105 as a genetic marker for canine hip dyslplasia" (coauthors Amy Miller and Keith Murphy of Dept. of Biology, University of Memphis).
    • Andrew G. Briese won a best session award and a best overall presenter award for his paper, "A study of the seasonal variation in overall abundance of macroinvertebrates"(coauthor Dr. Jack Grubaugh is with the University of Memphis).
    		 CBU Biology students at the 1999 TAS Meeting
    Ash Rasoul won a best session award for his paper, "Menstrual cycle affects tilt-table tests in women" (coauthors Judith Soberman MD, Pamela Jordan MSN, and Matthew Robinett, BS. are with the Department of Cardiology, University of TN, Memphis).
    CBU Biology Best Paper Award recipients at the 1998 TAS Meeting At the 1998 TAS meeting at Union University in Jackson, TN, CBU students won two of the three awards, including first place.

    Dr. Fitzgerald is pictured with the two CBU winners: Trent Gullet (right) and Felix Vazquez-Chona (left).

    • Trent Gullett won first place for his paper, "The dislocated knee."
    • Felix Vazquez-Chona won third place for his paper, "Up regulation of cadherins following CNS injury in rats." 

      • Felix also presented his paper at the April 1998 Alpha Chi regional meeting in Montgomery, Alabama.
    In 1997, CBU biology students won five out of seven best paper awards at the TAS meeting held at LeMoyne-Owen College in Memphis. (See Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science, Vol 72, Issue 3-4, pp. 73-84.)
    • Minoli Perera won first place for her paper, "The Cellular Localization of DARPP-32, Which Implicates the Location of DI Receptors in the Striatum of Pigeons."  She also presented her research at the Alpha Chi annual convention in Philadelphia.
    • Jason Harper won second place for his paper, "Signal Transduction Mechanisms Involved in Angiotensin II-Stimulated Arachidonic Acid Release for Prostanoid Synthesis in Rabbit Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells."
    • Lynda Starks took home a third place award for her work, "A Morphological and Zoogeographical Characterization of a Parasitic Nematode in Frogs."
    • R.J. Cardenas and Radha Gandhi shared fourth place for their projects.  Raul also presented a poster based on his research at the Southern Regional Meeting of Investigative Medicine in New Orleans.
    Links to Biology Student Research presented at TAS and at CBU Research Poster Sessions