Three Northern Michigan University students have been awarded Spooner Research Grants of up to $500 each to support their ongoing research projects under the supervision of faculty advisers. This year's recipients are Ender Harris of Negaunee, Delaney Anderson of Lake Orion, Mich., and Rylee Jensen of Clearfield, Utah.
Harris' project is titled “Evaluating Cognitive Deficits Associated with Chemotherapy in Mouse Models.”
“Overall, there is a developing literature over the past few decades of assessing the cognitive deficits caused by chemotherapy in general—a big issue since this can limit the doses patients can tolerate or prevent pursuing quality of life for our sick loved ones,” Harris said. “Mouse models have followed, but many only look at the impact of one or two doses and not a standardized range of doses. We will fill the gap by exploring the cognitive effects of a set range of doses for the platinum chemotherapy drug ‘cisplatin.' Hopefully, we see what the tipping point is when cisplatin levels are high enough that our mice show cognitive impairment: a chemical exerting its effect on biological tissue we will later analyze for changes.”
Harris also said project researchers have developed a computer program that will run the cognitive procedure for the mice, measuring their executive function in a process known as a “reverse discrimination” task. They do this by teaching the mice that a specific lever gives food. Then, they make it so a different lever gives food, and then measure the amount of time it takes for the mice to pull the other lever.
Anderson's project is “Isolation and structural analysis of new and possibly medicinal alkaloids from Hyoscyamus niger.”
“Over the summer during my McNair research, we used an analytical chemistry instrument called liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and likely discovered alkaloids—special, often bioactive compounds plants produce—that have never been reported in the literature. So, we might have discovered some molecules with medicinal potential. We discovered them in tiny, seven-day-old seedlings in Hyoscyamus niger, which is a nightshade.
"We're going to isolate the alkaloids from the seedlings using chromatography and a fraction collector, then analyze the structures. After isolation and purification, we'll likely send them off to be assessed for bioactivity and medical potential. We are possibly on the route of drug discovery and development from a plant.”
Jensen's project is titled “What Drives Microbial Diversity and Community Among Closely Related Host Species?”
“I am studying gut microbiomes in 11 African large herbivores,” she said. “Basically, this means I'm investigating the strength of different factors—for example, age, sex, body size, gut morphology, climate and evolutionary history—in contributing to bacterial diversity in the gastrointestinal tract of these species.”
The Spooner Research Grants are made possible by an endowment established by the late Charles C. Spooner. Applicants must be currently enrolled as a full-time student in a degree program and have a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.0 for undergraduate and graduate students. Learn more here.