The GW Research Showcase, previously GW Research Days, highlights the breadth of innovation and creativity being conducted at GW across all disciplines. At this year’s virtual event held April 12-16th, undergraduate and graduate students were invited to present their work and compete for prize money.
Congratulations to our IBS 1st prize winners Julie Ahn and Samantha Dow, 2nd prize winner Katherine Blackmore, and 3rd prize winner Jessica Schenck!
Today’s featurette is a Q&A with 5th year student Kate Blackmore. Kate answered questions about her 2nd prize poster, dissertation project, lab, and life. Don’t forget to check out the “At a Glance” section at the end of this post, where other IBS students describe their prize-winning posters.
Student Spotlight Featurette:
Katherine Blackmore
Kate is a 5th year IBS student in Dr. Colin Young’s lab pursuing a PhD in Molecular Medicine. She is currently writing her dissertation and plans to defend June 2021.
Poster Title: An obligatory forebrain-hypothalamic ER stress driven circuit mediates hepatic steatosis during obesity.
What’s the poster about and why is it important? During my PhD I have identified and characterized a novel forebrain-hypothalamic-autonomic circuit that controls the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
In one sentence, what is the key takeaway from your poster? Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: It’s all in your head.
Is this work funded by a training grant? Yes, NIHF31 funded by the NIDDK.
Is the work presented here cumulative, or is it part of a recent project? What got you interested in the topic? This is about 3/5 of my dissertation. This project started as a side project and really took off. My previous training has all been in molecular metabolism, so it was really interesting to incorporate the neuroscience aspect of it.
What would you say is the *highlight* of working in your lab or with your mentor? I have pretty much the coolest mentor (and lab peeps!) on the planet (Hi Dr. Young!). No really, I do. I did my first rotation in the Young lab and never left. What I love about the Young lab is that we continuously talk about our science in the context of society, such as politics, religion, sociology etc. This helps me create a bigger picture and find new ways to communicate science.
Do you use a technique that is fun, interesting, or you just hate but gets the job done? I have a certificate in murine microsurgery and I use it constantly! my favorite place to be is in the surgical suite.
Is there a person, facility, or department you want to give a shoutout to? Sam Dow! Hi Sam! I had to do the first couple of years by myself in the lab without any other graduate students (or women!). Sam came along my third year and it has been so wonderful to have someone to commiserate with, bounce ideas off of and just generally have friendship in the lab. I’m so thankful that she is around.
Was there another poster at the Research Showcase that you thought was really interesting? I really enjoyed Tyson Dawson’s* presentation — I had no idea what he was talking about, but I actually learned a little about bioinformatics and found it fascinating!
* Tyson Dawson, 2nd year student in Dr. Keith Crandall’s lab, presented his poster entitled “Reaching into the Regions: Gene-Level Analysis of Molecular Epidemiology and Phylodynamics of SARS-CoV-2”.
Do you have a “traditional” background, or did you take a winding road to your PhD? I’m pretty traditional: 2 years lab tech, 2 years of a master’s degree and then a PhD.
Who is your science idol and why? ok, technically not a science idol, but hear me out. Ruth Bader Ginsburg is my idol across all spectrums. Because of her I am able to be in the lab as a woman (especially a woman with a small child) and she tirelessly campaigned for science in the government.
For those long days in the lab, what gets you through the day? Coffee. And Nickelback. And cute pictures of puppies.
Is there something that you achieved over the past year that you are really proud of? I have recently signed on the dotted line for a post-doctoral fellowship with Bruce Spiegelman at Harvard Medical School! Speaking of science idols, I have been reading his work for years and am really excited to get to work with him.
When you aren’t in lab, what do you do for fun? I have a crazy toddler at home that is the light of my life. Watching her grow and learn new thing is such a privilege. She also keeps me insanely busy hiking, going to the zoo and reading every single book about dinosaurs she can find.
At A Glance
Other IBS students describe their prize-winning posters.
Julie Ahn, 1st Prize
Poster Title: B cell depletion reduces glial reactivity in an animal model of multiple sclerosis
What’s the poster about and why is it important? Depletion of B cells has been shown to reduce relapses in multiple sclerosis, but the role of B cells in the CNS is incompletely understood. The data presented in this poster shows that B cells may contribute to disease by regulating microglia and astrocyte activity and that there may be a peripheral as well as CNS mechanism of disease.
In one sentence, what is the key takeaway from your poster? Depletion of peripheral and CNS infiltrating B cells reduces glial activity and myelin damage and improves motor function in EAE.
Julie is a 5th year Molecular Medicine student in Dr. Robert Miller’s lab. Her work is funded by an F31 predoctoral fellowship from the National Institutes of Health NINDS.
Jessica Schenck, 3rd Prize
Poster Title: HIV-1 Nef disrupts oligodendrocyte morphology & myelin integrity in the central nervous system
What’s the poster about and why is it important? HIV-associated cognitive disorder (HAND) remains common in people living with HIV despite the advent of antiretroviral therapy, and there is no therapeutic for the specific treatment of HAND. We think that these neurocognitive deficits may be due to preferential damage to white matter (the myelinated elements of the CNS) by Nef, an HIV protein that can be produced and shed from cells in extracellular vesicles even during viral suppression. Here, I show that extracellular vesicles containing Nef damages oligodendrocytes and disrupts myelin integrity, and delve into a potential mechanism for these disruptions.
In one sentence, what is the key takeaway from your poster? Nef damages oligodendrocytes in the absence of viral infection, likely via a mechanism involving the cholesterol transporter ABCA1 and ER protein Calnexin.
Jessica is a 4th year Neuroscience student in the labs of Drs. Michael Bukrinsky and Robert Miller. Her work is funded by a predoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association.
Discover more IBS student research presented at the GW Research Showcase via the 2021 Abstract Booklet.
A list of current IBS students and their mentors can be found at the IBS Student Directory.
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