WSU students earn national honors at biomedical research conference

Five Washington State University Honors students were recognized with presentation awards at the annual ABRCMS conference last November. ABRCMS is a national biomedical research conference, where undergraduate students are invited to present their research to an audience of more than 4,000 students, faculty, and industry experts.

Twenty WSU students attended the conference, along with five faculty and staff. The students presenting their research had to prepare a poster to accompany their presentation. Students honored with awards were:

• Joan (Jo) Castaneda Gonzalez, who studies biochemistry and chemistry, presented on the development of small drug carriers designed to deliver medications straight to sites affected by liver cancer.
• Taylor Page, who studies biochemistry, presented on how a specific protein, FBXW7, plays a role in women achieving a successful pregnancy.
• Amelia Ramirez Vargas, who studies neuroscience, presented on testing the effects of the drug, Danicamtiv, as a potential heart failure treatment in humans.

• Bruce Redden, who studies microbiology and medical sciences, presented on developing targeted antibiotics to treat bacterial infections that can cause cancer in the stomach; and
• Katy Touretsky, who studies neuroscience, presented on impact of cannabis exposure on microglia and anxiety during adolescence, and how these effects differ between males and females.

Opportunities like ABRCMS allow WSU undergraduates to share their research with a national audience. Many students begin working in research labs as early as their first semester on campus.

"When I came to campus on a visit, I got to talk to so many faculty in the College of Veterinary Medicine and realized I could do a lot more at WSU than at the other universities I had applied to. I got to get into research here in my first semester, and I don't think that would've been the case at other universities," said Touretsky.

Many of these opportunities are coordinated by WSU's Office of Undergraduate Research.

"It's incredible to watch these students develop from starting in UNIV 199 [a one credit class that introduces first-year students to research opportunities], to starting their work in a lab, to presenting on their own research, and finally working as mentors for new first year students," said Mary Sanchez Lanier, assistant vice provost, who leads the Undergraduate Research program.

Participating at ABRCMS not only exposes undergraduate students to new research, different fields of study, and professional networks, but also challenges them to explain complex science in ways that broader audiences can understand. That task can be difficult even for experienced researchers, said Page, who has previously shared her work at WSU and regional conferences.

"At that national level, the last thing you want to do is mess up in communicating your science. I was going over my presentation in my sleep," said Page with a laugh. "I prepared with my colleagues in the MARC program, and Dr. Lanier met with us one-on-one to go over our posters. Having such a great community of support really helped my presentation go as smoothly as it did."

Redden agreed, "My research experience has been shaped by the exceptional mentorship and support I received in the [Arden] Baylink lab, alongside the structure provided by the ESTEEMED MIRA program. Together, this combination of lab mentorship and programmatic support made the ABRCMS presentation possible and played a central role in my development as a confident, emerging scientist."

Up next? Castenada Gonzalez, Page, Ramirez Vargas, Redden, and Touretsky (along with hundreds of their peers) will be presenting their research at SURCA, the Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity, part of WSU's annual Showcase Week.