Going from big genomics data, to useful data, to experiments in diabetes
Talitha Van der Meulen, University of California-Davis
In diabetes, blood glucose levels are too high and people with diabetes suffer from severe side-effects that include cardiovascular disease, renal failure and blindness. Our lab is interested in studying the different cell types in the pancreatic islet that together regulate blood glucose levels. Our ultimate goal is to understand how human islet cells function and change in health and diabetes and then use this knowledge to contribute to a cure for or treatment of diabetes. In this CURE, students will become familiar with using so-called "omics" data and translating the data into a testable experiment that they will perform. The experiments will be done in the context of diabetes research that is ongoing in the Huising lab at UC Davis. Currently, we have large sets of information about gene expression at the mRNA level in healthy alpha, beta, and delta cells of the mouse pancreatic islet. Students will use bioinformatics techniques to process these sets and compare expression among these cell types during the first half of the course. For the second half, they will use this comparison to select a gene whose expression they will verify at the protein level in mouse pancreatic islets using fluorescent staining of tissue slices, followed by imaging and image-quantification. This process is a first step towards our ultimate goal of studying human islet cells. Once we have tools verified in mouse tissue, we can then apply these to human tissues. Therefore, we ask students to present their validation to the Huising lab.

Introducing hands on concepts of Mammalian Cell Culture and in vitro drug studies in Undergraduate course shells.
HIRENDRA BANERJEE, Elizabeth City State University
The process of learning is both visual and auditory and in the STEM fields, hands on and practicums enhances student learning, retention and understanding of the complex scientific concepts than just memorizing facts from class room lectures. Thus we plan to implement short hands on research modules in our Cell Biology and Human Physiology courses involving projects teaching students with mammalian cell culture techniques and in vitro drug testing skills. Students will learn to culture mammalian cancer cell lines with culture mediums and maintain the cultures in carbon dioxide incubators at ideal temperature, they will then treat them with novel anti cancer compounds to test the efficacy of these drugs and the IC50 doses(dose at which 50% cells dies).The data obtained will be statistically analyzed and results reviewed to study whether it aligns with the hypothesis and specific aims; students will then present their findings in a small research paper and short seminars in class along with their peers, they will be graded according to a rubric that will be provided to them in the beginning of the research experience process. Thus this process will align with CURE objectives of REU incorporation in undergraduate courses.