Undergraduate Student Highlights

Tamanna Talwar wins Map the System competition

Anonymous — Sat, 21 Aug 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Tamanna Talwar wins Map the System competition Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 08/21/2021 - 00:00

Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

CU ��«��Ƶ biochemistry student Tamanna Talwar explored the barriers to early diagnosis and treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Tamanna Talwar wanted to understand why some children are more likely to be diagnosed with autism than others, and to recognize the implications of delayed access to services for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD.

She dove into the topic and identified who gets left behind and why. For these efforts, Talwar has won the annual MAP the System competition at the ��«��Ƶ.

Map the System, a global challenge, is open to CU ��«��Ƶ students who have an interest in social or environmental issues and want to learn more about a problem that matters to them. The competition aims to promote a systems-thinking approach to tackling social or environmental challenges.

Tamanna Talwar

Talwar, a senior who is about to earn a degree in biochemistry and a minor in sociology, learned about MAP the System when she took a course called “Suffering and Care in Society,” taught by Don Grant, CU ��«��Ƶ professor of sociology and director of the Social Innovation Program.

As Grant has noted, colleges and universities host a range of contests designed to reward students for ideas about how to address big, societal challenges. But he says those contests tend not to emphasize one element: understanding.

Consequently, the solutions offered by the winners of these competitions often do not work or fail to have the larger impact they promise."

“Most competitions place a strong emphasis on giving a catchy elevator pitch,” Grant says. “They also stress coming up with flashy solutions as opposed to really understanding the problems students are trying to address. Consequently, the solutions offered by the winners of these competitions often do not work or fail to have the larger impact they promise.”

That sentiment captivated Talwar, who “wanted to explore a personal dilemma in the autism gap for diagnosis” and began research about diagnostic disparities “perpetrated by the different infrastructures,” she said, adding:

“As the elder sibling of someone with autism, this only furthered my interest to understand how different social, environmental and physical factors contribute to the discrepancy seen among vulnerable populations and try to better understand the implications of delayed access and services for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.”

one in 54 children is somewhere on the autism spectrum, but white children are more likely to get diagnosed and treated than Black or Hispanic children, Talwar noted. Those differences in diagnosis do not reflect genetic differences but appear to reflect biases against non-white and lower-income families, along with differences in urban vs. rural health care, for instance.

Talwar, who is also pursuing two certificates in Global Public Health and Care and Health and Resilience, noted that the competition gave her an opportunity to explore how different sectors exacerbate the lack of diagnosis but also to “map the system towards an impactful solution for the gap.”

After presenting and defending her project, Talwar was “beyond excited” to learn that she’d won the competition. She said she hopes to continue exploring more about the dilemma in hopes of advocating for individuals with ASD to get comprehensive and accessible services during the early, critical years.

This fall she will attend CU Anschutz to pursue a doctorate in pharmacy.

Map the System is part of the Global Challenge program, an initiative of the Skoll Centre at the University of Oxford.

CU ��«��Ƶ biochemistry student Tamanna Talwar explored the barriers to early diagnosis and treatment of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

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All in the Family: Camila Sousa

Anonymous — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 19:45:07 +0000

All in the Family: Camila Sousa Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 01/31/2021 - 12:45

Sometimes life tells us we’re meant to do something. In Camila Sousa’s case, it started young, growing up in a house in ��«��Ƶ with not one but two PhD scientists for parents. Camila’s mom is a molecular biologist, and her dad, Marcelo Sousa, is a principal investigator here in the Biochemistry Department. Camila is in her Junior year, pursuing dual majors in Biochemistry and MCDB, and working in the esteemed Cech Lab on DNA methylation enzymes.

Choosing CU Biochem

Camila remembers hearing her parents talking shop often as a child. She doesn’t describe their influence as pressure, but rather as fostered curiosity: “I was always interested in what they were discussing. Growing up I’d always wonder how things worked at a molecular level—and my parents would quickly explain.” Camila wasn’t satisfied with the answers she got and decided to follow in their footsteps. “Biochemistry is the best approach to our molecular understanding as it relates to biological processes.” She’s quite matter of fact in saying this, almost as if she’d been raised by scientists.

As a born and raised ��«��Ƶite, Camila decided to stay true to her roots and enroll at CU, where she says she’s glad to avoid paying rent. However, perhaps most enticing were the ample research opportunities available through the Biochemistry department: “The research opportunities at CU Biochem were much more independent than other programs—real independent research opportunities versus a more railroaded experience assisting on someone else’s project.” As for out of state options, Camila felt that spending twice the money on tuition wasn’t worth the potential added value. Instead, Camila followed in her parents’ footsteps and decided to major in both MCDB and Biochemistry, choosing the two for their complementary approaches to similar subject matter.

For example, after taking immunology this past semester, which is an MCDB class, Cech Lab held a journal club where she learned about a specific receptor involved in immune responses. “The paper in our journal club focused on the structure of the protein and how it interacts with nucleic acids, whereas the MCDB paper focused more on the protein’s enzymatic cascade and broader cellular effects.” Even with the continued support from home, transitioning from high school to college was a big step for Camila. The increased independence presented a major challenge to overcome:

“You have to want to learn, want to do well, be generally interested in what you’re doing. It can be a challenge to figure out your learning language—how you want to study to get the information you need. Study habits were probably the most difficult to figure out. Also, questions—you have to go to the professor, they won’t be on your back checking if you understood. I have a free tutor in my parents, but I’ve noticed a different approach now that I’m in college—they’re forcing me to think for myself more rather than feeding me information.”

Conducting Research

Camila’s favorite classes thus far have leaned toward her father’s favored discipline. Though she hasn’t taken many upper-division courses yet, her favorite thus far has been Principles of Biochemistry. As with other Biochem majors, as an underclassmen Camila’s schedule focused on foundational Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics to prepare her for the integrative nature of biochemistry. When it came time to take Principles, Camila enjoyed how the course brought things together, remembering focusing on the various instruments that populate biochemistry labs, learning how they work and how typical workflows produce data. She also flourished in Molecular Cell Biology 1 which centered on the Central Dogma of Biology: DNA replication, transcription, and translation. “I liked this class because it started getting to the edge of our knowledge in that field. The professors wouldn’t have answers to the questions we’d ask.” Camila had found her home pressing the frontiers of human understanding, in exploring those childhood questions her parents never quite answered.

Soon unsatisfied with the answers to her big questions available in her lectures, Camila decided she would pursue research. She started by volunteering in her dad’s lab, doing inventory, organizing chemical shelves, and doing odd jobs for grad students. Camila (charitably) describes it as ‘getting acquainted with the lab,’ not really research, but a foot in the door.

If you’re interested in research, get into a lab in whatever way you can. I started off doing inventory and cleaning the fridge, because I really wanted to get into a lab! I started emailing professors the summer between freshman and sophomore year, so not a ton of class experience. I shared my class experience, my majors, and told them I was interested in their work.

Today she’s in the Cech lab, which focuses on RNA biology. Camila is currently assisting a post-doc working on chromatin-associated proteins—modulators that indirectly control gene expression by modifying the molecular structure of the chromosomes that house our genes. Camila’s project is specifically focused on DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), an important enzyme responsible for methylating DNA that her postdoctoral mentor previously identified. Methylation is the process of attaching a methyl group to a specific site on a gene where it can affect transcription—usually blocking it. We call this process epigenetic because it presents an indirect way of affecting the Central Dogma, namely transcription, without modifying the specific nucleotide sequence of our genetic instructions. As Camila reminds me, it’s also a dynamic process, “the gene in question can be methylated or de-methylated whenever it needs to be activated.” Camila’s day-to-day includes synthesizing the RNA transcripts her team has identified as interacting with DNMT1, while preparing for upcoming binding studies between the RNA and the methylating enzyme, which she says will provide a better picture of what the interactions look like.

Why is DNA methylation so important? Abnormal DNA methylation patterns are found in many cancers. According to Camila, in some cancers there is a pattern of dysregulation preventing DNMT1 from methylating appropriately, meaning cell cycle checkpoints can be missed, anti-tumor factors are ignored, and cancerous cells begin dividing unchecked. Quantifying exactly how these compounds interact can give us greater insight in how these abnormal methylation patterns come to be, making Camila’s work foundational to developing targeted therapies. Importantly, as biochemists work to decode the machinery responsible for DNA methylation, we move closer to developing bioengineered treatments for all genetic disease with sequence specificity. For instance, imagine targeting the mutated hemoglobin-Beta allele (responsible for Sickle cell anemia) for methylation while allowing the other copy to continue producing healthy red blood cells, all while harnessing the human body’s own cellular machinery.

Looking Ahead

Beyond her world of RNA-oncology, Camila is excited where biochemistry as a field is heading. She excitedly tells me about some technology in development her father shared with her:

Right now, we don’t have a method of figuring the structure of a protein based on its amino acid sequence even though it represents the totality of the code. However, Google is working on a machine learning program [AlphaFold] that can predict and visualize protein structure based on the amino acid sequence alone. I haven’t worked with structural biology yet, but structure is quite difficult, especially for insoluble proteins like membrane proteins. It can be a challenge to purify, difficult to work with lots of subunits, so this would be a major boon to the field.

A boon indeed, as the author’s own research would benefit immensely from this sort of plug-and-play amino acid decoding. Once scientists can consistently predict protein structure, we move closer to predicting interaction and function. Google’s AlphaFold2 technology may eventually allow scientists to circumvent expensive experimental methods for determining protein structure, like X-ray crystallography and cryo-election microscopy, entirely.

Though Camila hasn’t had as much free time given her ongoing research, she used to be an avid ballet dancer, taking classes and performing with her troupe “once in a blue moon”. Aside from ballet, both of Camila’s parents were born outside the U.S. (dad is Argentinian, and mom is from Germany), so she’s had ample opportunities to see the world: “I got to go to Italy for ten days around 2018—we started in Venice, looped north, then ended in Rome. We had two full days to do nothing in Venice, and by the end it felt like I’d seen everything twice! I loved going to the historical sites, that’s part of why I love traveling.” Unfortunately, COVID has put both travel and research plans on hold for the time being. In the meantime, Camila continues to plan her next round of experiments and life after ��«��Ƶ. She’s thinking grad school, almost certainly in Molecular Biochemistry, but she hasn’t settled on a topic beyond human health. Wherever she goes, Camila wants to continue exploring the mechanisms behind human diseases. We’re excited to see where Camila’s research eventually takes her, as she’s sure to make a big splash wherever she lands.

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The Curious Scientist: Yannick Lee-yow

Anonymous — Wed, 27 May 2020 19:16:00 +0000

The Curious Scientist: Yannick Lee-yow Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/27/2020 - 13:16

Local Roots

First up in our Be a Biochemist series is undergraduate Yannick Lee-yow, a Biochemistry (BCHM) and Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) double major who had a round-about path into biochemistry. He found a home conducting independent research with MCDB’s Dr. Ding Xue for the past four years and is now graduating as a published first author to pursue a Ph.D. in genetics at Stanford University. Yannick was also recently awarded The Royal Chemical Society’s Certificate of Excellence and the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship (the most prestigious scholarship for undergraduate students in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics) for his achievements in the sciences. We caught up with Yannick to learn more about his time here at CU and his promising career in research.

Yannick grew up nearby in the small town of Niwot, Colorado with a big love for music. He started taking piano lessons as a child and by his teenage years he was playing local gigs in his hometown, “I had played with a few of the faculty at CU and I thought that it might be fun to do a jazz major.” Soon he was admitted into CU ��«��Ƶ’s Jazz Studies Program, marking the start of his scholastic career as a musician. However, as Yannick started to explore the University’s broader campus he had a major change of heart.

Discovering Science

Curious to learn more about what was happening on campus, Yannick decided to tour a lab with a friend: “I actually happened to really like the lab. Being a part of something new that no one else knew at the time and being at that leading edge of research was really appealing to me. After the experience, I switched my major to MCDB.” It wasn’t long after that he added a Biochemistry major and a Chemistry minor. Because BCHM offers significant course overlap with other natural sciences like MCDB, EBIO, and CHEM, undergrads can more readily complete a double major.

Although the jazz gigs didn’t pan out, the research did, and Yannick soon found his humanities courses more challenging than his lab work. Over the next three years, he would characterize the electroconductivity of 3-D printed metals at microwave frequency, study neurocognition and problem-solving strategies in CU science students, and join Dr. Xue’s lab his freshman year (the lab he toured with a friend). Under Dr. Xue’s mentorship, Yannick worked on several projects focusing on mitochondrial disease, cell death, and radiobiology using C. elegans, a nematode often used as a model organism.

Exploring New Frontiers

As part of the Xue Lab, Yannick collaborated to design a mutagenic suppression experiment to characterize the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt). He also learned how to apply his experience with bioinformatic programs to explore the structure and function of an enzyme involved in apoptotic cells. Yannick’s honor’s thesis investigated the radiation-induced bystander effect, where irradiated cells cause wild-type neighbors to behave abnormally through intercellular signaling. He eventually chose to use C. elegans as a model for investigating side effects associated with radiotherapy for his honors thesis, and we’ll let you read his elevator pitch:

I designed and fabricated an apparatus for locally irradiating C. elegans with X-rays. This was done using 3D printing and computer-aided design modeling techniques. By pairing this new instrument with classical molecular, genetic, and biochemical techniques, I was able to develop a methodology for exploring radiotherapeutic side effects, as well as identify a molecular mediator of the radiation-induced bystander effect as a major causal agent of radiotherapeutic side effects.

This sort of research is invaluable to fighting cancer and DNA-damaging disease, and highly sought-after by elite graduate programs. Additionally, young scientists take note—the ability to distill research into such a succinct message is crucial to marketing one’s work.

Another life, and Yannick says he would’ve followed the herd to avoid the headache, especially when fulfilling those humanities requirements early on: “ I would recommend taking [humanities courses] as early as possible so it’s not so overwhelming towards the end of college.” He also advises undergrads to stay curious and explore their interests, particularly in research, “Try and join a research lab as early as possible. They certainly seem intimidating at first, but they’re a really good experience and everyone’s very humble. Usually, the people that you find in those labs have the same passion that a biochemistry student looking for a lab would have.” Although Yannick plans to pursue a career in research academia, he’s still unsure about what his graduate work will focus on. Preliminary ideas include studying the regulatory world of non-coding sequences such as lincRNAs; one thing he does know for sure is that he will let his curiosity take the driver’s seat.

Xue Lab - MCDB UROP Undergrad Research Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship

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