UA News

Traditionally, it has not been common for undergraduate students to present their work at conferences that draw national and international researchers, but a number of UA students are doing just that.

Some may believe that undergraduate researchers should only be allowed to present their work in forums established for students, but University of Arizona programs are helping undergraduates land presentations at national conferences.

Undergraduate Biology Research Program, McNair Achievement Program and Minority Access to Research Careers are among those helping UA students have a presence at conferences across the nation.

“We feel that some of our students are of a caliber that they can and should present at regular scientific conferences,” said Carol Bender, who directs the UA’s Undergraduate Biology Research Program, or UBRP.

While student-centered conferences “have real value,” Bender said undergraduates also garner a tremendous amount of value from presenting at conferences that draw national and international audiences.

“This is actually quite remarkable for undergrads to be presenting at scientific conferences,” Bender said. “They are able to begin building a network.”

Local Students, National Reach

Talya Lepow, an Honors College student, works in the laboratory headed by Hanna Fares, a UA associate professor of molecular and cellular biology.

Lepow studies yeast plates alongside several other UA graduate and undergraduate students and is among the group of UBRP students who will present at national conferences. Others include Mark Leick, an Honors College student; Laurel Watkins, who is researching in the area of molecular and cellular biology; and Brianna Kolody, a biochemistry and molecular biophysics senior.

Lepow is studying the role of mucolipin-1 in the formation of lysosome organelles, organelles used to degrade molecules taken in by the cell. The research in her lab may lead to improved treatments for people suffering from the lysosomal storage disorder known as Mucolipidosis Type IV, which causes opthomological and neurological damage.

“There are so many things going on in the field that you really have to read through lots of peoples to get a grasp of it all," said Lepow, who will present a poster at the American Society for Cell Biology’s meeting in San Francisco next month.

The research is extremely intricate and involves several people in the laboratory. Lepow will present experimental tests which involve physical protein interactions with mucolipin-1.

“This is really exceptional because it is an aspect of biology that has become part of my undergraduate career that I don’t necessarily get in the classroom,” she said. “It’s a really special opportunity.”

Mark Leick, who presented at the BioInterface 2008 conference in Minneapolis last week, has studied the use of bioglass to stimulate bone growth in the face while trying to determine which compositions would be most beneficial for that growth.

"I was working with a surgical team and doing computer modeling to make models of skulls that could then be used during surgeries," said Leick, who now works with Mark Riley, a BIO5 Institute member and a faculty member in the UA's agricultural and biosystems engineering department.

Being able to present his work proved quite beneficial to Leick who said: "Lots of people came by and were surprised to know my research wasn't graduate research. My educational background is pretty unique, and I had a lot of disciplines to draw into a single project."

Leick – a triple major studying biosystems engineering, biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology – has since passed his project over to a doctoral degree candidate, but would like to someday pick up the project again.

Two UA Students Invited to Same Conference

Honors College students Clayton Mosher, a UA student studying physiology and mathematics, and Robert Gibboni, a senior studying molecular and cellular biology, will each present at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in Washington, D.C., this month.

Mosher is researching the amygdala, a brain structure associated with emotion and emotional memory. In his research project, Mosher is attempting to understand how emotional memory works at the neurological level.

"The science of behavior is interesting to me. It's amazing that we're at a stage in science where we can begin to understand consciousness, emotion and memory at the genetic and neural levels," said Mosher, who was introduced to the idea of research during an introductory biology course he took as a freshman.

It will be his second time presenting at a national conference.

“It’s really exciting,” Mosher said. “You don’t realize how important your research is. But then you talk to other people and you get to see where the field is really going and where you can really take your research.”

Gibboni, like Mosher, has conducted research in the laboratory headed by Katalin Gothard, a UA assistant professor of neurology and physiology. His work involves studying brain function within the context of visual attention and social behavior.

“I was lucky enough to rather by chance end up in professor Katalin Gothard's lab. She is an amazing mentor as well as scientist. She taught me a lot about how to be a scientist, and even what being a scientist means: being patient, persistent, skeptical and somewhat irreverent,” Gibboni said.

“One thing that I think the UA does really well is offer a lot of opportunities for undergraduates to work in real research labs, using real scientific thinking skills from very early on in their education,” said Gibboni, who is also a Flinn Scholarship recipient and is currently studying abroad.

“Of course, the great thing about biological research is that almost everything can have a medical application,” he added.

UA Undergraduates Attend Student-Focused Conferences

Marc E. Tischler, associate department head of UA’s biochemistry department, recently accompanied a group his students to this month’s Biomedical Conference for Minority Students, which was held in Orlando, Fla., this month.

"The value in students in presenting their work at a national conference is providing them an opportunity to discuss their work with faculty and other students from institutions throughout the U.S.,” said Tischler, director of the Minority Access to Research Careers program in the biochemistry and molecular biophysics department. One student involved with the McNair Achievement Program also presented during the conference.

Among the group, 13 students presented posters at the conference, which drew nearly 1,200 students, Tischler said.

Four UA students were also among fewer than 100 to receive awards for “outstanding poster presentations,” Tischler said.

Those students are Erika Starks, a molecular and cellular biology senior; Luis Barraza, who is studying plant sciences; David Durazo, a biochemistry and molecular biophysics senior; and Kevin Keys, a linguistics senior and Honors College student.

"This experience," he said, "helps them to gain confidence as well as exposure when they later apply for graduate programs."