SMART Team students to present research
| Published: 03/01/2013 |
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Students from 20 Wisconsin high schools and one middle school have spent a lot of their free time doing scientific research this school year. The 215 students participated in MSOE’s SMART Teams (Students Modeling A Research Topic) program, where they worked with a teacher from their school and a researcher to investigate proteins.
On Friday, March 1 from 4 to 6 p.m., the students will present their findings during a Poster Session at the Medical College of Wisconsin in the cafeteria lobby, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd.
The SMART Teams program began in 2001 with one team. Since then the program has grown to include 21 teams in the Milwaukee area and another 40 throughout the nation, and nearly 2,500 students have participated. They collaborate with researchers and scientists at universities and laboratories across the country. These SMART Teams construct physical models of proteins to help researchers investigate important proteins—and they’re doing it as an extracurricular activity.
The program was developed by MSOE’s Center for BioMolecular Modeling (CBM) and grew out of a collaboration between the CBM and researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin, UW-Milwaukee, Marquette University and the Blood Research Institute.
Many of the students who were part of a SMART Team have gone on to pursue degrees in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.
This year’s participants included:
Brookfield Academy High School
Basis for Prokaryotic Selectivity of the Antibiotic Paromomycin
Teacher: Dr. Robbyn Tuinstra
Mentor: Madhusudan Dey, Ph.D., Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Brookfield Central High School
The Inhibition Mission: DHQase and the Shikimate Pathway of Mycobacterium tuberculosis
Teacher: Ms. Louise Thompson
Mentor: Sanjib Bhattacharyya, Ph.D., Deputy Laboratory Director at City of Milwaukee Health Department
Brown Deer High School
Feel the Burn, then Feel the Death. ExoU as a Phospholipase
Teacher: Mr. David Sampe
Mentor: Dara W. Frank, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Medical College of Wisconsin
Cedarburg High School
Calcium-calmodulin Dependent Protein Kinase II: An Unforgettable Story
Teacher: Ms. Karen Tiffany
Mentors: Audra Kramer, Kanwardeep Kaleka and Nashaat Gerges, Ph.D., Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin
Cudahy High School
Wrinkle Release: The Entry Mechanism of Botulinum Neurotoxin
Teacher: Mr. Daniel Koslakiewicz
Mentors: Andrew Karalewitz, Ph.D. and Joseph Barbieri, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Medical College of Wisconsin
Grafton High School
TB or Not TB: That is Our Question The Role of Interleukin-12 Receptor in the Immune System and Preventing Tuberculosis
Teachers: Mr. Daniel Goetz and Ms. Fran Grant
Mentors: Halli Miller M.S. and Richard Robinson Ph. D., Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Medical College of Wisconsin
Greenfield High School
The Future of Whole-Genome Sequencing: MGMT Mutations in a Family Could Be Linked to Cervical Cancer
Teacher: Ms. Julie Fangmann
Mentor: Elizabeth Worthey, Ph.D., Medical College of Wisconsin, Department of Pediatrics and the Human and Molecular Genetic Center
Kettle Moraine High School
Gone With the Wnt: Role of GSK-3
Teacher: Mr. Steve Plum
Mentor: Anil Challa, Ph.D., Biotechnology Engineering Center, Medical College of Wisconsin
Laconia High School
Cascading into the Thrombin-Thrombomodulin Complex: Comprehending a Substitution in Thrombomodulin
Teacher: Ms. Jodie Garb
Mentor: Rashmi Sood, Ph.D., Department of Pathology, Medical College of Wisconsin
Marquette University High School
One Indole Ring to Rule Them All: How Modeling of Naltrindole Bound to the Delta Opioid Receptor Can Aid the Development of
Novel Analgesics
Teachers: Mr. Keith Klestinski and Mr. Carl Kaiser
Mentor: Christopher W. Cunningham, Ph.D., School of Pharmacy, Concordia University Wisconsin
Messmer High School
R61 D, D-peptidase Complexed with Helen-1, a Species-Specific Cephalosporin: One “Hel”-en of an Antibiotic
Teachers: Ms. Carol Johnson and Ms. Meg Garland
Mentor: Nicholas R. Silvaggi, Ph.D., Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Milwaukee Academy of Science
Cut, Copy and Mutate: EcoRI and its Function in Genetic Engineering
Teachers: Mr. Kevin Paprocki and Mr. Tyler Reed
Mentor: Vishwakanth Y. Potharla, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-
Milwaukee
Saint Dominic Middle School
2A Protease from Human Rhinovirus 2
Teacher: Ms. Donna LaFlamme
Mentor: William Jackson, Ph.D., Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Medical College of Wisconsin
Saint Joan Antida High School
Three Blind Mice: A Mutation in ADAM17 is Responsible for Embryonic Eyelid Closure Defect in Woe Mice
Teacher: Ms. Cynthia McLinn
Mentor: Duska Sidjanin, Ph.D., Department of Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Anatomy, Medical College of Wisconsin
Shorewood High School
Red Rover, Red Rover, Send BCCP Over: Coordinating Catalysis in Pyruvate Carboxylase
Teacher: Ms. Lalitha Murali
Mentor: Adam D. Lietzan, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biological Sciences, Marquette University
Valders High School
“Two Birds, One Stone”: Reduction of HMBPP by the Iron-sulfur Protein (IspH) for Isoprene Synthesis
Teacher: Mr. Joe Kinscher
Mentor: Eric Singsaas, Ph.D., Department of Biology, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Research Director, Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology
Waunakee High School
Take a Walk on the 5 Prime Side: Bacterial Replication by Helicase DnaB
Teacher: Ms. Michelle Knatz
Mentor: Sarah Wessel, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Wauwatosa West High School
Transthyretin (TTR): Carrier of Thyroxine and Its Evil Twin (Environmental Pollutants)
Teacher: Ms. Mary Anne Haasch
Mentors: Joseph McGraw, Ph.D., and Cameron Patterson, School of Pharmacy, Concordia University
Westosha Central High School
Transportin’ with Transportin: A Nuclear Import Mechanism
Teacher: Mr. Jon Kao
Mentor: Mark T. McNally, Ph.D., Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Medical College of Wisconsin
Whitefish Bay High School
GABAA Receptor: Knocked Out
Teachers: Ms. Paula Krukar, Ms. Marisa Roberts, Ms. Lisa Krueger and Ms. Katie Brown
Mentor: Robert Peoples, Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Sciences, Marquette University
Wisconsin Virtual Learning
PEDF: An Angiogenesis Inhibitor and Its Role in Glioblastoma Multiforme
Teacher: Ms. Becki Van Keuren
Mentor: Shama P. Mirza, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry, Medical College of Wisconsin
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