2012 ASSIP Newsletter

ASSIP Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program FALL 2012 ISSUE SEPTEMBER, 2012 ASSIP will impact more than our 51 participants this year. Ed Mathieu was the first sec- 2012 Highlights Inside This ondary school teacher to participate in AS- ASSIP expanded once again! Students in the SIP and enrich his professional experiences. Issue past six years have made ground breaking With guidance from Dr. Pat Gillevet, discoveries in a variety of scientific disci- Mathieu performed laboratory experiments plines. This summer students also gained to build and enhance a curriculum for a high Mentor Spotlight 2 experience in bioengineering and applied school biotechnology class, which he will Student Research- 3 mathematics at Mason and one student par- implement in spring 2013. ticipated in veterinary research at the Vir- ers Gain Teaching Experience ginia Tech Marion DuPont Scott Equine It has been a successful year for the ASSIP Medical Center. This expansion encom- alumni and their mentors. Fifteen of the for- 2012 4 passed nine new mentors who assisted the mer participants were co-authors on twelve Aspiring Aspiring Scientists to investigate carbon journal articles, abstracts and book chapters Scientists nanotubes, build prosthetics, and model published since 2011. Additionally, art work ASSIP Alumni 6 fluid structure interaction to create more created by the 2011 Aspiring Scientists was efficient unmanned aerial vehicles. displayed at the Science Museum of Vir- HS Science 8 ginia from May to August 2012. Kind donations from local companies and Teacher in the Lab individuals have continued to support AS- A novel Lyme disease research project origi- Intersection of Art 9 SIP. These donations allow the program to nally conceptualized by Temple Douglas, a and Science provide cutting edge internship opportuni- 2009 and 2010 alumna, translated into a Student 10 ties for high school and undergraduate stu- clinical trial at Inova Fairfax Hospital sup- Publications dents year after year. We would like to ported by Ceres Nanosciences. This unique thank our sponsors who are committed to test measures proteins from the bacterium Poster 11 investing in future Science, Technology, Borrelia burgdoferi that causes Lyme dis- Session Engineering and Math (STEM) leaders. ease. The trial has accrued 60 patients to Local Jobs & 11 date. Internships ASSIP Participants ASSIP alumni have landed exciting jobs and From the Editors’ 12 internships. Some recently graduated from Desk & Sponsors college and entered graduate school or the job market. Others were awarded impressive scholarships or full rides to attend college this fall. One established a non-profit organi- zation, myTwoBites, which assists expecting One hundred sixty-three students have participated in ASSIP since its inception in 2007. mothers to maintain a well balanced diet. Some have participated for 2-3 years. Mentor Spotlight: Kylene Kehn-Hall dents in her lab and acknowledges that they are “critical” to the research she is conducting. When asked why she feels students benefit from working in her lab, she replies, “Working in my lab for the summer gives students hands-on experience, which is critical to fully understand biological research. They have the opportunity to address a real life scientific question, not just one you would see in a laboratory class.” Addi- tionally, she recognizes that the Aspiring Scientists benefit from interacting with other students in her lab who inspire them to go further with their research. Mentor Kyelene Kehn-Hall (right) and Aspiring Scientist Kehn-Hall values the importance of a mentor’s role in Alexandra Johnson (left) discussing experimental results students’ development. She cites her MS and PhD and planning further experiments. Photo courtesy of Ma- mentor, Dr. Fatah Kashanchi, as an important influ- son Creative Services. ence in the way her life was shaped. She reflects, “He personally worked with me and taught me how to per- Dr. Kylene Kehn-Hall, a highly sought mentor, re- form many protein based assays. He also worked with ceives numerous requests to volunteer in her lab. me away from the bench on experimental design and When offered the opportunity to become an ASSIP critical interpretation of my data.” mentor in 2010, she kindly accepted recognizing it as a focused, well organized program that provides a “It is obvious that Dr. Kehn-Hall is a dedicated, wonderful way to select qualified candidates who are influential mentor. The Aspiring Scientists have genuinely interested in performing biodefense re- truly enjoyed their experiences in her laboratory search. and have been very successful as well,” com- Kehn-Hall’s lab focuses on elucidating the host re- ments ASSIP director Amy VanMeter Adams. sponse to viral infections caused by three different 2010 ASSIP alumni, Lee Dean is currently pursuing a pathogens, Rift Valley Fever Virus (RVFV), Venezue- MS in forensic science and is a research assistant at lan Equine Encephalitis Virus (VEEV) and HIV. Virginia Commonwealth University. 2011 ASSIP par- RVFV and VEEV are naturally occurring emerging ticipants Chelsea Pinkham and Annalise Schoonmaker infectious pathogens and potential biological weapons were co-authors on research articles published this with no treatment options. “By understanding the year. Mason student, Pinkham recently graduated and host response to infection, we aim to identify entered Kehn-Hall’s lab as a MS student this fall. specific host proteins that can be therapeutically Kehn-Hall recognizes the important contributions AS- targeted. We are also interested in improving SIP sponsors make to the program. These companies diagnostic assays for RVFV and VEEV through are certainly inspiring future scientific leaders! Kehn- the use of nanoparticle and microfluidic tech- Hall is incredibly thankful for the supplies she re- nologies,” Kehn-Hall comments. ceives for her participation as a mentor. She notes, “Providing students the opportunity to learn in a lab This summer, Kehn-Hall’s team of eight was com- based setting requires not only dedicated time, but also posed of two ASSIP undergraduates, two Masters De- money. The supplies really help to lessen the financial gree students including one ASSIP alumni starting her responsibilities of mentoring ASSIP students.” MS in the fall, three PhD students, and one technician. Kehn-Hall is very enthusiastic about having the stu- 2 September 2012 ASSIP Stepping up to the Plate: Student Researchers Gain Teaching Experience High school, undergraduate, and graduate students in ing experience, especially when working with such Dr. Ted Dumas’ Physiological and Behavioral Neuro- bright and inquisitive students. "It has kept me on my science in Juveniles (PBNJ) lab, located in Mason’s toes, brushing up on information and details that I may Krasnow Institute tackled important neuroscience is- have forgotten or procedures that have become second sues this summer. Researchers in the lab explored how nature in order to be able to convey it to someone else memory develops and investigated physiological and in depth and breadth. I try to make an extra effort to molecular substrates responsible for memory. Break- break the layers down when I’m teaching or training throughs in the PBNJ lab will lead to better under- others to help them build a more salient and complete standing of the neural bases of learning and the neural picture," she remarks. pathologies associated with congenital and neurode- generative disorders. This summer, eight ASSIP stu- As a prior Aspiring Scientist, Albani appreciates the dents were involved value of ASSIP. “What in these research I learned through my activities. work in the lab, I guar- antee, I could never Dumas paired the have learned from text- Aspiring Scientists books or class lectures. with experienced Nothing equates to be- student researchers ing immersed in a set- who guided them ting and having to trou- through the scien- bleshoot through prob- tific process and lems in real time, which trained them to pro- makes this learning ex- duce reliable scien- perience much more tific results. Robert profound, not to men- Gardner, graduate tion applicable.” student, and Sarah Albani, 2009 and The Aspiring Scientists 2011 ASSIP also enjoy the presence alumna, were two Himika Rahman (left) and Alex Corso (right) performing experi- of these mentors in the such mentors who ment to understand the transition from attentive to automatic navi- lab and are benefitting exercised their gation. Photo courtesy of Mason Creative Services. from the experience. teaching skills this Corso is enthusiastic summer. about her work with memory which is a passion in- spired by the Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore Gardner mentored 2011 and 2012 Aspiring Scientists movie "50 First Dates" and the story of Clive Wear- Himika Rahman and Alexa Corso and 2011 partici- ing, a British conductor who suffered from amnesia. pants Man-Hua Zhu and Akshay Deverakonda. He She describes the lab setting as "a fun atmosphere." considers his participation as an ASSIP mentor benefi- Not only does she enjoy performing experiments her- cial to both his short and long term professional goals. self, but is also intrigued by learning more about the After completing his PhD at Mason, Gardner aspires research conducted by the large team of students and to conduct and supervise original basic scientific re- scientists in the PBNJ lab. Corso compliments Gard- search. His work conducted with the team of four As- ner as a “great teacher and mentor” and notes that

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