Group Summer Scholar Research Program 2016 Research Streams

Transcription

1 Group Summer Scholar Research Program 2016 Research Streams

2 Contents Introduction 3 Research Streams 4 Analytic Chemistry 5 Astrophysics 6 Cancer Biology 7 Bioinformatics 8 Medicinal Chemistry 9 Computational Mathematics 10 Contact Information 11 2

3 Introduction The NJCSTM Group Summer Scholars Research Program (GSSRP) offers, high school students and entering Kean University Freshman, the opportunities to conduct hands on research in astronomy, biochemistry, chemistry, molecular biology, computational mathematics and engineering under the mentorship of faculty and graduate students. Students completing this six week summer program will be exposed to cutting edge research and develop a deep understanding of the scientific process. Students who complete the program will: be mentored by outstanding scientists add valuable experience to their resumes experience working as part of a research team learn how to problem solve and interpret scientific data develop friendships with others interested in science 3

4 Research Streams Students participating in the program can select among the Research Streams, which are designed to expose students to fundamental research questions. NJCSTM faculty and visiting scientists provide guidance for their respective Research Streams, set goals and directions, and develop and teach the Research Experience to students in small group settings. The 2016 Research Streams will introduce students to projects in Astrophysics, Cancer Biology, Analytical Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Bioinformatics and Computational Mathematics under the guidance of expert faculty. 4

5 Analytic Chemistry Dil Ramanathan, Ph.D. Identification of Novel Medicinal Compounds from Rain Forest Plants Learn bioanalytical methods including chromatography, mass spectrometry, and solid phase extraction, while studying plants that show anticancer, antibacterial, and antimicrobial activity. Students will isolate, identify, and quantitate drug-like chemical compounds in medicinal plants using biological assays and analytical instruments such as liquid and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry to determine the chemical composition and structures of novel compounds from extracts of plants from the Costa Rican rain forest. 5

6 Astrophysics David Joiner, Ph.D. Gaming Engines for Scientific Data Visualization with Applications to Astrophysics Immersive environments, such as 3D games and virtual reality headsets allow for the rich exploration and modeling of multi-dimensional scientific data. Participants will explore the creation of data viewing and data modeling environments using the Unity Game Engine for the detection, analysis, and validation of planets around other stars. The detection of multiplanetary systems involves finding best fit values for 5 parameters (orbital period, mass, eccentricity, mean anomaly at epoch, and argument of periastron) for each planet in the system. In addition to the large number of parameters needed to describe the orbits, the orbits themselves exist in 3 physical dimensions, and can change over time. As such, there is the potential to use 3D visualization tools to help examine computational results. Finally, the analysis of these results in a "game-like" environment has additional potential applications to education, and participants will create tools to teach topics in exoplanetary studies. 6

7 Cell Signaling Salvatore Coniglio, Ph.D. Exploring Cancer Malignancy This research stream provides opportunities for inquiry-based learning of cell and molecular biology, with a focus on cancer. Students will search for novel interactions between cancer cells and macrophages, specialized cells of the immune system found in the cancer microenvironment. Changes in gene expression will be measured in these cells, giving students the opportunity to learn methods to quantitate mrnas and proteins of interest using real-time PCR, SDS PAGE based immunoblotting (western blotting), immunofluorescence microscopy and cell culture. Ultimately, students will test their findings in a cell invasion assays to determine their functional significance. Participants work in teams and will present their research findings at the end of the program. 7

8 Bioinformatics Yaozhou Sun, Ph.D. Viral Genome Analyses Design and evaluate bioinformatic algorithms and applications for the rapid and accurate screening of viral pathogens from metagenomic data. Students will be involved in the actual development of algorithms and tools for large-scale high-performance DNA sequence analysis, with a focus on research and clinical applications for rapid and accurate viral pathogen screening using state-of-the-art Next Generation Sequencing metagenomic data. Students entering this stream should have previous programming experience (preferably in Java) and UNIX/Linux command-line operation exposure. 8

9 Medicinal Chemistry James Merritt, Ph.D. Synthesis of Chemokine Receptor Antagonists Learn basic principles of medicinal chemistry & pharmaceutical research by synthesizing and testing novel receptor antagonists. Students will work as part of a multidisciplinary drug discovery team to optimize compounds that can block chemokine receptor signaling. Using real drug discovery screening assays, students will test the newly created compounds in collaboration with the Cancer Biology Team to determine effects on the growth and activation of cultured glioblastoma cells. 9

10 Computational Mathematics Edward Farnum, Ph.D. Acoustic & Digital Signal Processing Student will learn mathematical principles of dynamic wave functions to study acoustic and digital signal processing as applied to fiber optic communications, music translation and voice recognition. Participants in this stream should have a strong interest in mathematics, exposure to MATLAB, and some previous programming experience, preferably with Java. 10

11 Contact Information For more information visit our website at or us at Address: The New Jersey Center for Science, Technology & Mathematics Kean University 1000 Morris Ave Union, NJ