“The Need for Acceptance and the Cost of Social Rejection” – Summer 2010
Callie Gibson (Psychology and History, ’12) and Dr. Stephen Chew are researching acceptance and social rejection. How strong is the drive to belong to a group? How essential is it to a person’s well being? What are the consequences of social rejection and isolation? Is a social nature essential to being a human? What happens when an individual is rejected from being a part of a group? The human experience is permeated with questions like these. This project seeks to explore the meaning and purpose of being social and the consequences of rejection by a group. This is a well-researched field, and Callie will be drawing upon research in social psychology and evolutionary psychology. Callie received funding for this project through a Teagle Foundation grant awarded to Dr. Wilton Bunch, Dr. Steve Donaldson, and Dr. George Keller.
Baylor College of Medicine Summer Research Program – Summer 2010
Anna Worth (Biochemistry, ’12) is working with Dr. Juan Vera at the Texas Children’s Feigin Center in Houston, TX, on evaluating the downstream functionality of genetically modified tumor-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes. Members of the toll-like receptor (TLR) family are highly expressed on cells of the innate immune system and are responsible for the recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs), enabling the detection of bacteria or viral components and inducing an immediate and potent “alert signal” responsible for activating the host defense. Anna will examine the expression of CD25 (a transmembrane protein present on activated T cells) and IL-2 (interleukin-2 receptor) in the modified T cells expressing different TLR endodomains. In addition to research, Anna will have the opportunity to volunteer at Texas Children’s Hospital, shadow doctors during rounds, and attend daily lectures by leading researchers and physicians from Baylor College of Medicine
"Determining the Secondary Uses of the Field V Basilica" -- Summer 2010
Aaron Carr (Religion and Classics, ’12) is working with Dr. James R. Strange and the University of South Florida Excavations at Sepphoris, continuing their excavations of a Roman basilical structure. Sepphoris, an ancient Roman city in the heart of the Galilee is instrumental in understanding the material culture of Ancient Palestine. This year’s research builds on last year’s discoveries and focuses on an area in the southern portion of the building, seeking to discover the extent of the building’s reuse as an industrial area in the Byzantine period. The excavations were a huge success, disclosing two walls, major evidence of secondary Byzantine construction, a pool and drainage system, and a handful of artifacts that no one has yet been able to identify. Back in Birmingham, Aaron will produce pottery drawings for publication in the upcoming dig reports and continue formulating a three dimensional model of the building. Plans for presentation are forthcoming.
“Pictures in the Head? A Computational Model of Mental Imagery” – Summer 2009
Chris Walling (Mathematics and Computer Science ’12) and Claire Richie (English and Computer Science ’10) worked with Dr. Steve Donaldson on a computational model explaining their views on mental imagery systems. One of the major points of contention in the philosophical debate about mental imagery is whether images are stored as pictures or propositional information. The basic example and starting point for their mental imagery system was the example of placing a rotated “D” on top of a “J” recognizing that it is an umbrella without visual stimuli present. They proposed that in order to do this task, both pictorial and propositional data were needed. They did this by building an artificial neural network into their model which learned images such as the “D” and “J” and performed mental tasks on them such as rotating, combining, and comparing attributes like size and color. They then took their model to the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) southeastern conference in Gatlinburg during the fall where they took first place with their presentation.
“Bioremediation: Use of White-Rot Fungi to Remove Pharmaceutical Compounds from Waste Water” – Summer 2009
Walter Turner (Chemistry, ’12), Dr. Denise Gregory, and Dr. Lisa Nagy investigated the use of mushrooms to degrade pharmaceutical remnants found in wastewater. They proposed that the fungal enzymes that can degrade the phenol and ether linkages in lignin (a polymer found in wood) should also be able to degrade pharmaceuticals with similar ether and phenol linkages. Walter grew mushrooms on wood in liquid media. Once the mushrooms released enzymes to degrade the wood, Walter added known concentrations of pharmaceuticals into the liquid media, which was then degraded by the fungal enzymes. The rate of degradation can be quantitatively determined by using a Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometer. If successful, this mushroom treatment method could be commonly used to detoxify waste streams.
Summer Internship in Biomedical Sciences at UAB – Summer 2010
Luke Ellenburg (Biology, ’12) worked with Dr. Hubert M. Tse at the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center to determine the role and importance of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) in innate immune signaling through analysis of the Toll-like Receptor (TLR) 4 pathway in bone marrow-derived murine macrophages. Two murine models were utilized in this student, the Non-Obese Diabetic (NOD) and the NOD.Ncf1m1J mouse. The difference in expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines is relevant to Type 1 Diabetes research because these cytokines are partially responsible for T cell activation and the subsequent T cell mediated destruction of pancreatic beta cells associated with Type 1 Diabetes.