CURE Examples

Examples submitted by the Hampton Institute participants.


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From an Inquiry-Guided Project to a CURE in General Biology: Testing Repellent Effects of Essential Oils and a Parasitoid Wasp Against Callosobruchus maculatus.
Joseph Felts, Davidson-Davie Community College

Discipline: Life Sciences, Zoology, Ecology
Core Competencies: Analyzing and interpreting data, Planning and carrying out investigations, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
State: North Carolina
Target Audience: Introductory
CURE Duration: Half a term

DNA cloning and protein analysis of animal-heme peroxidase within collagen IV of the extracellular matrix
Isi Ero-Tolliver, Hampton University
This CURE is to expose undergraduate students to the process of DNA cloning to identify the critical amino acids of the animal-heme peroxidase,peroxidasin, responsible for catalyzing sulfilimine bond formation within collagen IV of the basement membrane. Students will bioengineer a variety of mutants through primer design and polymerase chain reactions that contain point mutations within the immunoglobulin domain of the peroxidasin.

Discipline: Chemistry:Biochemistry, Life Sciences:Cell Biology, Life Sciences, Molecular Biology
Core Competencies: Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering), Planning and carrying out investigations, Analyzing and interpreting data, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
Nature of Research: Wet Lab/Bench Research, Basic Research
State: Virginia
Target Audience: Introductory, Upper Division, Major
CURE Duration: Multiple terms, A full term

Histology CURE Lab in Breast Cancer
Aylin Marz, Norfolk State University

Discipline: Life Sciences:Anatomy and Physiology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology
Core Competencies: Analyzing and interpreting data, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering)
Nature of Research: Wet Lab/Bench Research
Target Audience: Upper Division, Major
CURE Duration: A full term

Worms Rule- Investigating variation in isoform function
Anna Allen, Howard University
Integrating research into undergraduate science courses has been a long-term goal of many institutions. Research-based laboratory courses provide students with authentic research experiences while also helping them develop their analytical thinking and problem solving skills. Through these type of courses, students begin to understand and apply many fundamental concepts in biology while also contributing to the scientific field. To provide a research experience consisting of many common laboratory skills and the current buzz technique of CRISPR/Cas9 endogenous genome editing, we designed a one-semester research experience for undergraduates. By the end of a single semester, students enrolled in our upper level biology elective course successfully edited the genome of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Throughout this course, students were exposed to molecular biology techniques (PCR, gel electrophoresis), imaging techniques (confocal microscopy), and CRISPR/Cas9 concept and techniques in C. elegans. Ultimately, the goal of this course was to provide students with a meaningful undergraduate research experience while generating reagents (namely C. elegans strains) that assist the instructor's personal research objectives.

Ecological variation in functional traits of plants
Lisa Wallace, Old Dominion University

Research in Pathogen Biology: Laboratory and Analysis
David Gauthier, Old Dominion University

Discipline: Life Sciences:Ecology, Evolution, Genetics, Microbiology, Zoology, Molecular Biology
Core Competencies: Planning and carrying out investigations, Using mathematics and computational thinking, Analyzing and interpreting data, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering), Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering)
Nature of Research: Wet Lab/Bench Research, Basic Research, Field Research, Informatics/Computational Research
State: Virginia
Target Audience: Upper Division, Major
CURE Duration: Multiple terms

Exploring civil responsibility
Candice Wallace, Hampton University

Discipline: Social Sciences:Psychology
Core Competencies: Planning and carrying out investigations
Nature of Research: Basic Research
State: Virginia
Target Audience: Major
CURE Duration: A few class periods

S-BUG Soil Biodiversity UnderGraduate Research
Shawn Dash, Hampton University
An important area of ecological research is that of soils and their influence on the structure of plant communities and therefore the overall habitat. Equally, important is the structure of soil communities as part of ecosystem form and function. While many studies have focused on particular soil taxa, the overall diversity of communities or composition and configuration of particular pathways (such as brown food webs), few studies have focused on documenting and understanding the entire soil community for temperate and urban ecosystems. This study will address the following overarching questions: 1) What is biodiversity of various soil communities across assorted habitats?2) How are communities organized and differentiated along environmental gradients? 3) How are soil arthropod communities structured regarding functional groups? And 4) how have human-regulated habitats altered soil communities in reference to biodiversity and structure? This CURE will address such questions by focusing on elucidating how do soil macroinvertebrate (biotic general) community memberships vary across landscapes –especially in the context of human activities? As well as, what factors impact/influence community diversity and ecosystem form and function?

Discipline: Environmental Science, Geoscience:Soils, Life Sciences:Evolution, Ecology
Core Competencies: Analyzing and interpreting data, Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering), Planning and carrying out investigations
Nature of Research: Basic Research, Field Research
State: Virginia
Target Audience: Major, Upper Division, Introductory
CURE Duration: Multiple terms

The affect of different bioactive compounds or phytochemicals from plant extracts on the proliferation of breast cancer cell lines
Herman Fennell, Hampton University
Approximately 25% of today's prescription drugs come from plant extracts, but only about 15% of the known plant species have been screened for medicinal purposes. There are many plants that have yet to be screened for their medicinal benefits. Students will chose plants, with known health benefits, but can extracts from these plants decrease the proliferation, decrease reactive oxygen species or even inhibit the metastasis of cancer cells. There are many plants such as ginseng, saw palmetto and even onions and garlic which contain anti-carcinogenic properties. Proposed Project: After an extensive literature review, students will plan and carry out experiments on understanding which plant extracts exhibit anti-carcinogenic properties of different cancer cell lines.

Your CURE for Genetics
Nazir Barekzi, Norfolk State University