Showcase

At the Komen Tissue Bank, I was able to grow wonderfully as a person. With some ups and downs, my team was there to support me through it all and teach me the ins and outs of their wondrous world of collecting breast tissue to further the studies of ... breast cancer research. As the world's only repository for healthy breast tissue, the lab collects and studies tissue types from a wide variety of ages, male or female, cancerous or cancer-free. This allows researchers to have access to all tissue types that help further their studies and research. Read more

At my internship, I've had the opportunity to conduct qualitative interviews with women that are immediately postpartum at Riley Maternity Tower. The purpose of these interviews is to gain a better understanding of mothers' birth experiences and to o ... s and to offer them traumatic stress resources if needed. In addition to gathering data to reduce potential trauma for expecting mothers in the future. The mission of this study is to improve the birth experiences for women going forward which is why both the patient and provider fill out a similar survey. This survey allows us to gauge where the gap in patient/provider communication lies and upon data analysis, we can minimize this gap, further improving the future of the OB/GYN field and mothers' birth experiences. Read more

My internship at the Indiana University School of Medicine focuses on investigating vascular reactivity and endothelial function in aortas of atherosclerosis prone ApoE-/- mice. During this project, I performed isometric tension experiments utilizing ... aortic rings. These experiments help us understand how blood vessels respond to chemical and mechanical stimuli, particularly in relation to atherosclerosis. By studying these mechanisms, we aim to contribute to the development of improved treatments for cardiovascular diseases. Through my internship, I have conducted isomeric tension recordings, prepared experimental solutions, and analyzed data to assess vascular responses. This hands-on experience has enhanced my technical lab skills while reinforcing my understanding of how endothelial function influence vascular health. Visitors to my table will learn about the importance of ion channels in blood vessel regulation, the methodologies behind vascular reactivity experiments, and how this research may contribute to advancing cardiovascular health. Read more

During their teenage years, adolescents spend more time interacting with their peers as compared to any other developmental period. Peer influence has a great impact on the mental health of adolescents. Adverse experiences during this developmental p ... eriod can lead to an increased risk in mental health and addiction. Furthermore, females are more susceptible to anxiety and depression disorders as compared to their male counterparts. Rejections from peers may be a bigger stressor in females than males. The Lukkes Lab investigates what is the impact of restricted peer access (RPA) on anxiety-like and depressive-like behavior, and are the effects sex dependent? Read more

Stressful or traumatic experiences can cause trauma-related mental health problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Trauma disorders are a collection of emotional and behavioral issues that develop due to stressful and traumatic events during ... childhood or other distressing experiences. The LifeRAFT lab investigates behavioral and brain-level characteristics that increase the likelihood of traumatic stress and substance use disorders in children and adolescents. We investigate how trauma affects children's and teenagers' mental health using a variety of research tools. We gather behavioral and questionnaire data in addition to our primary instrument, functional MRI (neuroimaging). Participant recruitment involves managing the scheduling of lab visits, ensuring all necessary appointments are set up in a timely manner. Participants must also be screened to ensure they met the eligibility criteria for the study. The LifeRAFT lab is active on social media; we design engaging posts to attract potential participants and raise awareness about trauma-related mental health. I have assisted with all of these lab responsibilities. This hands-on experience has allowed me to gain valuable insight into the logistics and operational aspects of running a research study. Read more

This pilot study investigated sex differences in post injury response that focuses on aggressive fibrotic responses in females following an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear. Using the C57BL/6J mouse strain, we examined 5 male and 5 female mice, ... aged 18 weeks, with ACL rupture on the right knee with the left knee serving as an internal control. Three mice per sex were euthanized at 3 weeks post injury. The remaining 2 mice per sex were euthanized 6 weeks post injury. Our primary goal was to explore gene expression changes in response to the injury, with a particular emphasis on identifying key pathways that drive inflammation and fibrosis. Early findings from a previous study with young females indicated an aggressive fibrotic response, which limited range of motion and severely impacted recovery. Clinically, females are more prone to arthrofibrosis post ACL surgery than their male counterparts. Through this study, we sought to uncover underlying genetic and molecular factors that contributed to arthrofibrosis development and guide future treatments. This research was directly tied to a forthcoming clinical study in patients, providing insight into potential therapeutic targets for managing arthrofibrosis and improving post-injury recovery outcomes, particularly in females. Read more

I have learned many new scientific techniques while working in the Walker lab. I started by performing western blots to identify specific proteins within a sample. Identifying these proteins illustrates if a cell is functioning properly, or if a neur ... odegenerative characteristic is present. I also was able to learn about harvesting mice, BSA assays, and cell culture. My focus recently has been cell culture, in which I have been able to take a set of C2C12 cells from a mouse, grow, passage, and seed them. This process has taught me the procedure for how cells go through various steps to be ready for analysis. This internship has been a big learning experience for me, and it has deepened my interest in lab research. Read more

While working in Dr. Bruzzaniti's bone-focused lab my main task is to analyze collected microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) scans of mouse skulls. I then get on the computer and reconstruct these scans, rotate them, and manually draw "Regions of Inte ... ns of Interest" around specific areas of bone within the maxilla and mandible in each mouse. The "Regions of Interest" allow us to run computer analysis on these specified areas of bone and receive calculated measurements that give us information regarding bone mineral density, tissue-to-bone ratios, and measurements of overall cortical and trabecular bone. After I'm done drawing the "Regions of Interest" on the scans I take different skull measurements such as craniofacial height and width. I also take multiple tooth measurements within the maxillae and mandibles of the mouse skulls. Collecting this data allows us to quantitatively compare different mouse genotypes and observe how the deletion of certain proteins, such as Kalirin, is affecting the craniofacial, periodontal, and dental structures in both male and female mice at different age points. This research that we conduct in Dr. Bruzzaniti's lab's is important groundwork that can help guide future studies concerning specific bone and dental diseases. As a current Pre-Dental student, working towards making advances in the world of oral health via this research has been a very fulfilling experience for me! Read more

This pilot study investigated sex differences in post injury response that focuses on aggressive fibrotic responses in females following an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear. Using the C57BL/6J mouse strain, we examined 5 male and 5 female mice, ... aged 18 weeks, with ACL rupture on the right knee with the left knee serving as an internal control. Three mice per sex were euthanized at 3 weeks post injury. The remaining 2 mice per sex were euthanized 6 weeks post injury. Our primary goal was to explore gene expression changes in response to the injury, with a particular emphasis on identifying key pathways that drive inflammation and fibrosis. Early findings from a previous study with young females indicated an aggressive fibrotic response, which limited range of motion and severely impacted recovery. Clinically, females are more prone to arthrofibrosis post ACL surgery than their male counterparts. Through this study, we sought to uncover underlying genetic and molecular factors that contributed to arthrofibrosis development and guide future treatments. This research was directly tied to a forthcoming clinical study in patients, providing insight into potential therapeutic targets for managing arthrofibrosis and improving post-injury recovery outcomes, particularly in females. Read more

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a complex disease influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, leading to autoimmune destruction of insulin producing beta cells. The leading, yet somewhat controversial, hypothesis for this environmental trigger is ... viral infection. To investigate how cytokines can impact the beta cells directly, we treated INS-1 cells (a rat beta cell line) with IFN-?, a cytokine released during viral infections, to see if it affects cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. To measure ROS, we used fluorescent probes and biosensors coupled to confocal microscopy. I used the probe dihydroethidium (DHE), which lights up in the nucleus when ROS is present. We also used biosensors to track ROS in different cellular compartments: the cytoplasm (AAV8-GRX1-roGFP2), endoplasmic reticulum (MYC-ER-roGFP), and mitochondria (TOMM20-GRX1-roGFP2). These biosensors were introduced using the reagent Lipofectamine 2000. All experiments compared IFN-?-treated cells to corresponding control cells. Read more