UT Shield

Texas REU: BME CUReS Cancer

2018

, Filed Under: 2018, austin, fun

Fourth of July!

Unlike the rest of my fellow Scholars, I am lucky to be spending the summer in my own hometown, the beautiful Austin, Texas. I haven’t had to adjust to living in a new city or being away from home for the past month. I’ve really enjoyed immersing myself in research on campus during the weekdays, and spending time with my family on the weekends.

This year, the fourth of July fell in the middle of the week, and it turned out to be quite the rainy day! I spent the day relaxing at home, before heading out in the evening for a fireworks show. Thankfully, the show didn’t get rained out and we avoided getting drenched. At the end of the night, my parents dropped me back on campus. It was a great, laid back way to spend the day with family and friends. I can’t believe the summer is nearly halfway over!

view of cloudy sky
Storm clouds loom in the sky on the way to Bee Cave, a small out just outside of Austin.

 

photo of summer scholar in front of a stage
Rohini standing by the outdoor stage at the Hill Country Galleria.

 

Mayor on the stage with his grandson.
The mayor of Bee Cave and his grandson count down for the start of the fireworks.

 

Photo of fireworks in the night sky.
Happy Fourth of July!

– Rohini Kumar, Rice University

, Filed Under: 2018, cancer, reflections, research

Reflecting on Research

Hi, I’m Josh, a rising sophomore at Johns Hopkins University majoring in Biomedical Engineering and a part of the UT Austin BME CURes Cancer REU.

Although our lab is currently in the “set up phase” of my project, much progress has been made. Our experiment itself is two-fold: part wet lab, part dry lab, and I have learned to enjoy the breaks that each one gives the other.

Screenshot of student's work in MATLAB
This is the type of analysis our lab performs where we take the percentage of cells that are alive after a certain dose of treatment and fit them to a curve using Matlab.

My project involves using the process of EMT (Epithelial to Mesenchymal transition) to predict the effect of matrix stiffness on chemotherapy resistance in mammalian cancer cells. Like I mentioned, we are currently in the setup phase: seeding, lasing, dosing, and performing live/dead assays in order to test the effect of a wider range of matrix stiffnesses on chemotherapy resistance using Dose/Response curves.

photos of lab work with cells
In these pictures, we are seeding 5 mM gels in preparation to dose and eventually perform a live/dead assay on them.

Our lab hopes to develop a mechanistic model that predicts the effect matrix stiffness has on drug resistance due to a change in the proportion of mesenchymal cells. This can be detected through confocal imaging by marking certain transcription factors like YAP.

This lab has taught me much more than to follow protocols. It has given me the ability to be independent and understand that I enjoy exploring new topics I am not caught up on in the scientific community.

I am suddenly gaining critical skills like reading published papers, and without the great flexibility of my mentors and PI, I would never be able to gain these tools that I will definitely need down the road. Excited to see what results the month of July holds!

-Joshua Krachman, Johns Hopkins University

, Filed Under: 2018, fun, ut austin

Bowling Party!

Hello!

My name is Gabriela Hernandez and I am a rising sophomore at Boston University. I have spent these past four weeks as a participant in the BME CURes Cancer REU, here at UT Austin, and I have nothing but great things to say about the time I’ve spent here.

Not only am I able to conduct research on a topic that fascinates me, but I am also able to make great summer memories with amazing people.

 

Below are some pictures of one of these memories at the Union Underground.

four students at the bowling alley, one is being carried by the other three
In this picture, Fawaz, Donovan, and Josh are carrying the bowling champion, Dominique. All four of them are in the BME CURes Cancer REU, just like I am.

 

four students at the bowling alley
Here is a picture featuring Ella, Corey, Ashley, and Emily! These girls are in an REU called MRSEC, and we’re excited to bowl after a long, grueling day in lab. Not to mention these girls have serious skill! They ended their first game with a combined score of 384.

 

student crossing arms to form an X for a bowling score called a strike
Here is a picture of Josh after scoring a strike! Josh’s first time bowling was at this bowling social, so he was all smiles when all ten pins fell down. I must admit, even though Josh is just a beginner, he could easily pass as a professional.

 

student in action of bowling
Action Shot! This picture clearly portrays Dominique’s amazing form. She states that flicking her hind leg up gives her leverage and pointing her index finger ensures that the ball rolls straight and down the middle. Dominique, the bowling champion, ended her second game with a score of 178. Way to go Dominique!

 

student in the action of bowling
Donovan, a.k.a the fast and the furious, only knows how to bowl two ways, and that’s fast and powerful. Donovan scored three strikes in a row his first game. The amount of precision and strength he outputs each round is definitely impressive. Donovan says that he’s excited for the next bowling event because it’s a great way to relax after a long day in lab.

 

-Gaby, Boston University