By Michael Kirk

The Board of Trustees voted last week to name two Storrs campus buildings in honor of former President Philip E. Austin and former Board Chair John W. Rowe. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Building will be renamed the Philip E. Austin Building, and the Center for Undergraduate Education Building will be renamed the John W. Rowe Center for Undergraduate Education.

“Both of these individuals played pivotal roles in the extraordinary achievements UConn has seen over the last two decades,” said Board Chair Lawrence McHugh. “They are two of the most important figures in the long history of this University, and are highly deserving of these honors.”

Austin served as UConn’s president from October 1996 to September 2007, a period of unprecedented growth at the University. During his tenure, he oversaw unparalleled enrollment growth coupled with an increased reputation for academic excellence. In addition to overseeing the massive $1 billion UConn 2000 construction and renovation program – which transformed the physical campus – he also led the drive for phase two of the effort, the $1.3 billion 21st Century UConn program.

“Dr. Austin took an outdated campus and transformed it into a vibrant contemporary place marked for research excellence, competitive with the better state schools, attracting the best students, and attaining national attention in intercollegiate sports,” wrote UConn President Susan Herbst in a letter to trustees recommending the naming. “He boosted the morale of the students, faculty, and staff through extraordinary improvements of the campus through the UConn 2000 projects. Dr. Austin also helped to bring in a $110 million increase in research awards and led a successful fundraising campaign of $300 million.”

After stepping down as president, Austin served as a tenured faculty member at the University, teaching courses in higher education leadership. He has also participated in accreditation and other activities of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and the National Collegiate Athletic Association on behalf of the University.

At the request of the Board of Trustees, Austin agreed to serve as interim president from May 2010 through June 2011, and later as interim vice president for health affairs at the UConn Health Center.

John W. Rowe MD served as chairman of the University of Connecticut’s Board of Trustees from July 2003 through 2009, succeeding Roger Gelfenbien. During his tenure as chairman, he presided over the expansion of the University’s physical environment, a period of enrollment growth, and increase in the University’s national stature.

Rowe received his medical degree from the University of Rochester in 1970, and was president of the Mount Sinai Hospital and Mount Sinai School of Medicine from 1988 to 1998, and president and chief executive officer of Mount Sinai NYU Health from 1998 to 2000. In 2000, he became chairman and CEO of Aetna Inc. He is currently a professor at Columbia University in the Health Policy and Management Department. Rowe has received many academic awards and honors, and has distinguished himself as one of the nation’s outstanding medical researchers.

“Since his departure as board chairman, Dr. Rowe continues to show his commitment to the University community and has made a significant contribution to the Honors Program, establishing the John and Valerie Rowe Health Professions Scholars Program in 2010,” wrote Herbst. “He believes in giving back ‘to give disadvantaged students who are academically talented the opportunity to reach their full potential’.”

The Center for Undergraduate Education (CUE) houses various academic support departments, including the Honors Program.

Adapted from UConn Today

Summer 2010: Determining the Effect of Spacing in Protection of Staphylococcus aureus by Pseudomonas Aeruginosa

By Leonela Villegas and Leslie Shor, Ph.D.

The research that I have been conducting since the summer of 2010 includes the observation of two different types of biofilm-forming bacteria: Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Using a quad microfluidic device that simulates a controlled environment, I observed the interactions between these two bacterias at various distances from one another when being in contact with Tobramycin to ultimately compare these results to other types of antibiotics. The reason for selecting these two types of bacteria is due to how Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been shown to produce an exoproduct named HQNO, which inhibits the growth of S.aureus yet causes resistant small variant colonies to appear. The bacteria are grown on a thin layer of oxygen sensing film, which uses the reporter molecule Pt(II) Porphyrin to measure bacterial activity based on fluorescence.

Summer 2012: Chondrogenic Disease Modeling: A Study of Signaling Across iPS and hESC derived Chondrocytes

By Michael Tassavor, Dr. Sara Patterson, and Dr. Caroline Dealy

I worked with Dr. Patterson and Dr. Dealy, the CEO of Chondrogenics, Inc. I studied signaling in stem cells and chondrocytes (which become cartilage), which was important in the company’s goal of using stem cells to regenerate cartilage in patients with osteoarthiritis. I worked with various stem cell lines and figured out some surprising things regarding some signalling pathways that we didn’t think would be active in stages of chondrocyte differentiation.

Summer 2012: Characterization of Drosophila Interacting Genes: Elucidating the Mechanism(s) of PolyQ Toxicity in Huntington’s Disease

By Daniel R. Camacho, Ping Zhang, Ph.D.

Polyglutamine expansions are a type of genetic mutation that is responsible for several human neurodegenerative diseases, including Huntington’s disease. The pathology of these diseases involves the accumulation of proteins containing polyglutamine domains within neuronal cells, which ultimately leads to cell death. The mechanism of toxicity of these protein aggregates is currently being investigated. My work involved using the model genetic organism Drosophila melanogaster to try to elucidate aspects of polyglutamine toxicity. The experimental design consisted of carrying out a p-element mutagenesis of the Drosophila genome with the purpose of upregulating genes that interfere with proper eye development. Upon identification of these genes, we proceeded to combine them, one at a time, with an ectopic human polyglutamine gene in the same animal system so as to identify synergistic interaction. This observation would indicate that these two genes interfere with the same pathway. Elucidation of these interacting genes serves to further the understanding of polyglutamine pathology and provides possible targets for future drug therapies that aim to alleviate or even prevent the diseases caused by this class of mutations.

Summer 2012: The Socio-Political Influences on Health in the Buduburam Refugee Camp

By Gian Grant, Dr. Elizabeth Holzer

The United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) recognizes that there are approximately 2.7 million refugees in the world. The UNHCR often coordinates with non-governmental organizations and asylum countries to provide refugees with services such as health care until a permanent residential situation is agreed upon. This research focused on the direct or indirect social and political influences on refugee healthcare and health. In addition, this research discussed the interactions between refugees, the UNHCR, and host governments or organizations. This was accomplished by providing a case study based on analysis of documents, transcripts, and photos that Dr. Elizabeth Holzer collected between 2006 and 2008 in the Buduburam Refugee camp located in Accra, Ghana.

Summer 2012: Structure and Interactions of Translesional Synthesis DNA Polymerases

By Maciej Kosakowski, Dr. Dmitry Korzhnev, Ph.D., Dr. Irena Bezsonova, Ph.D.

During my weeks with the College Summer Fellowship Program at the UConn Health Center, I worked in a structural biology lab in conjunction with the NMR lab under Dr. Korzhnev. I assisted him on his project, which aimed to discover the specific mechanisms behind translesional synthesis DNA polymerases, or TLS polymerases for short.

TLS is a DNA damage tolerance pathway that recruits specific TLS enzymes to the DNA replication machinery, and is used to bypass certain mutations or lesions at the replication fork. This process, however, is highly mutagenic as TLS polymerases have a very low fidelity and incorporate new mutations into the genome. The TLS pathway, therefore, is partially responsible for the proliferation and growth of tumor cells containing highly damaged DNA. Dr. Korzhnev’s lab aims to find a way to inhibit or interfere with the TLS process in order to potentially sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy.

During my 10 week period in the lab I grew, purified, and expressed multiple protein domains of the Rev1 and PolZ TLS enzymes, as well as PCNA, a ring shaped protein critical to the TLS recruitment pathway. I also had time to titrate two protein domains, hPAD and hUBZ, as well as produce highly purified samples of both proteins for protein NMR spectroscopy and other NMR experiments. It was a pleasure to work in the lab; it was a great learning experience and truly rewarding.

View Matt’s presentation.

Before Klair Lubonja even started classes his freshman year he was engaged in research courtesy of the Pre-College Enrichment Program, sponsored by the Department of Health Career Opportunity Programs at the UConn Health Center. As a member of Dr. Yu Lei’s lab, Klair spent the summer working with copper nanowire and single-wired carbon nanotubes in an effort to enhance glucose electrooxidation. The goal was to find the perfect composite ratio of the two materials so that a sensor for glucose and other sugars in the body could be created. Such a sensor would be an improvement upon the costly sensors on the market today. In August 2012, a paper detailing the results of the research in which Dr. Lei and Klair were involved was published in Science of Advanced Materials, volume 4, number 7/8. The article, entitled Copper Nanowires-SWCNTs Hybrid Composite for Enhanced Glucose Electrooxidation and Detection in Alkaline Medium, lists Klair as the third author.

Dr. John W. Rowe, former Board of Trustees Chairman, speaks during the naming ceremony for the John W. Rowe Center for Undergraduate Education. Seated from left, President Susan Herbst, Lawrence McHugh, chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mun Choi, interim provost, and Joshua Andrade, an Honors student in the Rowe Scholars Program. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

By Sheila Foran

In a ceremony on Thursday officially designating the former undergraduate education building as the John W. Rowe Center for Undergraduate Education, UConn President Susan Herbst spoke appreciatively of the role that Rowe, former chairman of the Board of Trustees, has played in the development of the University.

It is appropriate, she said, that a building where people come to find their way is named for a man who has given so much to UConn: “There’s a lot of advising in here … a lot of students come in looking for counsel … they come in looking for direction on how to navigate the University … so it’s only fitting that this building is named after one of our favorite people; a person who has given us outstanding direction and guidance during his time here.”

Dr. John W. Rowe served as Board of Trustees chairman from July 2003 through 2009. During that time, he oversaw the expansion of the University’s physical plant, helped negotiate notable growth in enrollment, and was instrumental in increasing UConn’s national academic ranking.

Current Board chairman Lawrence McHugh said, “Dramatic achievements like expansion and revitalization do not happen by accident. It requires a team of individuals who can work together to achieve success. Jack’s vision for UConn was simple … it was to make it into one of the very best research institutions in the nation. He, along with [former President] Phil Austin and others, set out to achieve this goal.

“The thing that stands out about Jack,” McHugh continued, “is his unwavering support of the University of Connecticut. No matter what the obstacles, UConn has no better friend and champion than Jack Rowe.”

In 2005, Rowe and his wife Valerie established the John and Valerie Rowe Health Professions Scholars program that helps students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in various healthcare fields with financial, academic, and experiential assistance. This program, along with the Honors Program, the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Office of Global Affairs, and the Center for Academic Programs, is located in the building that now bears his name.

Speaking as someone who has directly benefitted from the Rowe Scholars Program, Joshua Andrade, a junior majoring in molecular and cell biology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, thanked the Rowes, saying, “The big question [in my mind] was did I want to become a doctor. Thanks to the Rowe Scholars program, I have found that the answer is yes; your namesake program was the catalyst for choosing my career and possibly my life’s work. It changed me as a person.”

For his part, Rowe expressed his appreciation to fellow board members and other colleagues who welcomed him when he first arrived on campus as newly minted chairman of the Board.

“I was a newcomer to UConn and Phil [Austin] and others were patient with me, and they taught me how to get to Storrs,” he said. “They taught me the legacy and the history and the culture of this place, and I just loved it.

“I had spent my career in academic settings … Harvard for 16 years … Mt. Sinai [Hospital and School of Medicine] for 12 … and I found UConn more interesting!” Rowe added. It has a special place in the culture and intellectual fabric of this state … and it is exciting for Valerie and me to have our name on this building that is the home of the Honors Program and the core of undergraduate education here on campus.”

Adapted from UConn Today

Mallory Perry ’14 (NUR) is interested in pediatric intensive care. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

By Lauren Lalancette

A number of Division III schools vied for Middletown’s Mercy High School athlete of the year to enroll, but Mallory Perry ’14 (NUR) chose UConn because her future career was her top priority.

“It was all about the academics when I chose UConn,” Perry says. “There were so many different schools I could’ve gone to, but I knew I wouldn’t get into the WNBA.”

Perry decided to forgo a college basketball career at another school and instead selected UConn because it would give her an outstanding education in nursing, a career goal she’d discovered as a result of volunteer experiences while in high school.

As part of her nursing education Perry is doing several clinical rotations. She’s currently at the Hospital for Special Care, a rehabilitation facility in New Britain, where she is working with two-month-old babies with congenital anomalies. “Now I know I want to work with even younger really sick infants,” she says.

Beginning in May and continuing through August, Perry will embark on a paid internship that also earns three credits at the UConn Health Center’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

While many might find that work environment stressful beyond endurance, Perry says, “This will be my first time doing exactly what I think I want to do in my career. I like the babies’ vulnerability, and then seeing their progression. These babies are called ‘Grads of NIC U.’ Helping babies to make that progress outweighs any negatives.”

Perry was among the 90 students accepted out of 2,000 that applied to UConn’s School of Nursing in 2010. While initially leery that UConn would be too large for her, she says she “loves it now,” explaining that living in the Nursing Learning Community made the University’s size manageable.

There are 26 learning communities on campus, in which students live and study with others who share their major, career interest, or passion for issues such as the environment. While there are more than 17,000 undergraduates on the Storrs campus, the typical learning community is home to between 20 and 120 students. The Nursing Learning Community is one of the largest.

Research and community health work

When Perry was offered admission to the University, she was also invited to join the John and Valerie Rowe Health Professions Scholars Program, open to Connecticut residents whose backgrounds are underrepresented in the health fields. The scholarship includes an invitation to join the approximately 9 percent of student-scholars enrolled in UConn’s prestigious Honors Program.

“The Honors Program is great because I’ve gotten to conduct research as an undergrad,” Perry says. “My advisor, [assistant professor of nursing] Michelle Judge, says I’ll have at least one published paper before I graduate.” Perry is using a $4,000 research grant from the Rowe Program to investigate the potential of fish oil to alleviate the duration and severity of PMS symptoms.

The research expands upon a study another UConn student began, that had focused on Caucasian women, looking at whether race influences PMS and at the curative power of fish oil. Although Perry’s research is demanding, not least because of the time it took to recruit women of color for her study, she earned UConn’s New England Scholar designation. This recognizes students who achieve at least a 3.7 GPA for two sequential semesters.

Besides conducting research independently, Perry is an Urban Health Scholar. Students in the Urban Service Track are competitively selected from among undergraduate and graduate students in the Schools of Nursing, Pharmacy, Social Work, Medicine, and Dental Medicine. Typically there is a wait list to join the program, as more students apply to the program than can be accommodated. About 10 students per school are chosen to learn and work as an interdisciplinary team, receiving clinical training to help Connecticut’s urban underserved communities through service activities and learning retreats.

“I’m always the youngest on my team,” Perry observes.

Although she has already completed the Urban Health Track’s minimum requirements, she says she still volunteers because she loves it. Community health fairs on various different themes – ranging from kidney health, to senior citizens, to encouraging middle school students to pursue careers in the health care field – particularly captured Perry’s interest.

“What I found most interesting was when people with HIV attended an Urban Health Track learning retreat,” Perry says. “They told us how they want to be treated by their health care providers. That helps me in my practice.”

Adapted from UConn Today

Match Day, March 15: Shawnet Jones (right) learns she’s staying at the UConn Health Center for a family medicine residency. (Janine Gelineau/UConn Health Center Photo)

By Chris DeFrancesco

Commencement 2013 marks a milestone for UConn’s John and Valerie Rowe Health Professions Scholars Program for undergraduates.

Monday, Shawnet Jones becomes the first Rowe scholar to graduate from the UConn School of Medicine.

Jones was part of the first class of Rowe Scholars, which helped enable her to attend UConn’s Combined Program in Medicine, starting in 2005 as an undergraduate. She credits the Rowe scholarship and the UConn Health Center’s Health Career Opportunities Programs (HCOP) as being vital to her growth as a student-turned-physician.

Jones, who says her desire to practice medicine goes “pretty much as far back as I can remember,” moved to the United States from Jamaica at age 3.

“My first exposure I would say is through my grandmother in Texas, who’s a registered nurse,” Jones says. “I remember going on the weekends with her to the hospital and seeing the doctors in their white coats with their stethoscopes. And I loved my pediatrician in Texas, and my one up here, and when I was there I would play with everything they had and always question them about what they were doing. That definitely piqued my interest, and it continued to grow throughout my life.”

By third grade her family had moved to Hartford, where six years later she would attend the private Watkinson School on a full scholarship. As a high school junior, she was interviewing for the Combined Program in Medicine at UConn and elsewhere.

In the summer of 2006, following her freshman year at Storrs, Jones enrolled in the College Enrichment Program, eight weeks of enhancing scientific and mathematics skills, shadowing physicians, and interacting with researchers. In doing so, she entered the pipeline of HCOP offerings for students from groups that are underrepresented in the health professions, made possible by support from the Aetna Foundation. The College Enrichment Program is part of the Aetna Health Professions Partnership Initiative.

Following her sophomore year, Jones started the 10-week Summer Research Fellowship Program, working with Hector Aguila, associate professor of immunology.

“I was in the lab, culturing cells, and it was good because at the end of that summer I did a presentation of the work that we did and that was actually my first research poster that I’ve done,” Jones says. “That was really my first lab experience, it was through HCOP. And I was then able to use that poster at the New England Scientific Symposium in spring of 2008 that’s hosted by Harvard Medical School.”

Throughout their undergraduate years, Rowe scholars in the Combined Program in Medicine attend professional development programs and enrichment workshops, interacting with medical, dental, and graduate students and faculty. They also are eligible for research funding.

“I would like to acknowledge the wonderful vision of Jack and Valerie Rowe and the Aetna Foundation, whose support has been incalculable in our efforts to encourage urban youth to aspire to careers in the health professions,” says Dr. Marja Hurley, HCOP director.

It’s how Jones, right after her junior year at UConn, ended up on a service learning program in the Dominican Republic, working with Haitian immigrant workers on sugar cane plantations, known as bateys, in the town of La Romana.

“We decided to develop health-related workshops,” Jones says. “We had ones for nutrition, safe sex, and dental hygiene. And we got all the curriculum material together before we went down. We collected donations from churches and other community organizations that we were involved with to bring down clothes and food and money for the people that we’d be working with. And through interpreters we presented these workshops to the families that were living on the bateys. We did that for three weeks.”

She gave a presentation when she returned, and her experience shadowing a missionary in a private Dominican hospital inspired her to write her medical school essay about a patient she met there.

“That was a huge experience for me,” Jones says. “If it hadn’t been for the Rowe program I wouldn’t have been able to go down there because I didn’t have the funds – definitely one of the highlights of my undergrad program.”

That summer it was back to Aetna HPPI for Track 1 of the Medical/Dental Preparatory Program, a six-week program to prepare for the Medical College Admission Test.

“I took the MCAT that summer, and luckily I got a good enough score that I didn’t have to take it again,” Jones says. “I’m pretty sure that’s because of the HCOP program.”

She returned for Track 2 the following year, 2009, at this point having graduated from UConn with a Bachelor of Science in physiology and neurobiology.

“Essentially for the six weeks we had what would have been the first six weeks of medical school courses and got exposure to the professors who were going to be teaching us in the fall,” Jones says. “It was an abbreviated version of what was coming, but it was still very helpful. There was also shadowing incorporated with that.”

In the summer after her first year in medical school, Jones returned to the Medical/Dental Preparatory Program, this time as an MCAT tutor, working with students who were where she was just two years earlier.

“Through each stage of the HCOP program I had the opportunity to be both a mentor and a mentee,” Jones says. “The people ahead of me would give me advice about things to do, things to study, what to do with my summers when I was off. And as I went through the programs I was able to then pass that on to other students coming after me.”

As time permitted during her medical school years, Jones still involved herself in HCOP programs, sharing her experiences with others in the pipeline.

“The biggest thing that I like to share with others is what I would have liked people to tell me on my journey,” Jones says. “I was very naïve going into my career in medicine.”

Jones isn’t going far after commencement. She matched to the UConn Family Medicine Residency Program.

“I like the diversity of people I will interact with, and it’s really about the relationships,” Jones says. “I want to know my patients as intimately as I know my family. I think that’s the best way that I can provide the best care to them.”

“Shawnet is an excellent role model, Rowe Scholar, and Aetna Health Professions Partnership Initiative participant, and I am delighted that she will remain at the UConn Health Center for her residency and her plan to serve her community,” Hurley says.

As for others who are considering paths similar to hers, she offers this advice:

“There are not enough minorities, especially minority women, in medicine and the other health fields. There’s definitely a need, and there are programs that want to accept you. So in order to be eligible or look like a great applicant, you need to put in the hard work. You need to study. You need to do the community service. You need to shadow. Shadowing is imperative, because you need to have kind of an idea, a feel for what you’ll be doing in the long run.

“In terms of the economic and social hardships you’ve had to face in the past, don’t let that limit you,” she adds. “I’ve been told many times that you shouldn’t let where you come from dictate where you’re going. Take the past and the history that’s been given to you to empower you and make you stronger. Be proud of where you come from but don’t let it limit the opportunities that you seek for yourself. There are tons of scholarships out there. I didn’t pay for undergrad, I didn’t pay for high school, and I went to a great high school and a great undergrad program. So there are ways to get around those barriers. And when you do get to the programs or the schools that you want, don’t forget about the support systems that have been with you throughout your life.”

Adapted from UConn Today

John Garcia (Junior)

Originally from Colombia, John Garcia moved to Connecticut during middle school. A graduate of William H. Hall High School in West Hartford, CT, it was during high school that John began participating in UConn’s Health Career Opportunity Programs (HCOP), namely Junior Doctors Academy, Senior Doctors Academy, the Pre-College Enrichment Program, the Health Disparities Clinical Research Fellowship Program, and the Medical/Dental Preparatory Program. Because of these experiences John is now an allied health sciences major interested in pursuing a career in medicine, specifically in orthopedic or trauma surgery, and he works for HCOP as a counselor for their high school programs. He’s also a talented artist whose drawings have been made into tattoos.

Christian Gonzales (Junior)

Christian Gonzales is a biomedical engineering student who’s working on a Latino studies minor and who plans to go to medical school to be a surgeon. Originally from Lima, Peru Christian moved to Manchester, CT at age seven and ultimately graduated from Manchester High School. His Peruvian heritage and his experiences with UConn’s Medical Humanitarian Society have had an impact on his career goals. In Cusco, Peru Christian was able to shadow doctors and provide physicals, health education, and medical screenings. The fact that he had the chance to serve his home country was very impactful. In La Antigua, Guatemala he visited schools and orphanages to provide health education and volunteered at the Centro de Salud Santo Domingo Xenacoj. He has traveled with Public Health House on an alternative spring break to Atlanta, GA where he learned about caring for the disadvantaged and those with mental disabilities. Christian is a saxophonist in the UConn Marching Band who enjoys soccer, volleyball, juggling, and speed cubing.

Rabale Hasan

Rabale Hasan, a graduate of Hall High School, is a first-generation American-born citizen. Though she resides in West Hartford, CT, her family is originally from Pakistan. A long time participant in UConn’s Health Career Opportunity Programs (HCOP), Rabale conducted research on E. coli in sprouts and the use of bacteriophage as treatment during the High School Student Research Apprenticeship Program. As a member of the Pre-College Enrichment Program she researched different conditions and materials used in the creation of bone scaffolds. She has also taken part in the College Enrichment Program and the MCAT Preparatory Program. A psychology major on the pre-med track, Rabale’s professional interests are in neuroscience and neurology. She’s a self-described photography fanatic who loves taking pictures, editing them, and sharing them with friends and family. As a Husky, Rabale has traveled to Peru and Guatemala with the Medical Humanitarian Society to spread awareness of health issues and provide check-ups for the locals.

Rubby Koomson

Rubby Koomson is a nursing major who hopes to enter the field of public health. From East Hartford, CT, she graduated from East Hartford High School. She recently spent a summer in Ghana, West Africa with the UConn Global Medical Brigades, providing basic health care for the locals under the supervision of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. It was a life-changing experience that cemented her professional interests and allowed her to indulge in her personal interest in languages; she speaks three fluently and is working on a fourth.

Elizabeth Martin (Junior)

Elizabeth Martin, a nursing major from Bridgeport, CT, became interested in being a registered nurse after volunteering at St. Vincent’s Medical Center and St. Mary’s Hospital. A graduate of Trumbull High School in Trumbull, CT, her interest in the field of nursing was reinforced by her aunt, who underlined the variety of opportunities available in this career and the fact that nurses have a wide array of pursuits open to them throughout their working lives.

Fariya Naz (Junior)

Fariya Naz graduated with high honors from Danbury High School. Though her early childhood was spent in Pakistan, she moved to Danbury, CT at the age of eight. At Danbury Hospital where Fariya volunteered in the pharmacy department and interned for the oncology department, she learned that the medical field was right for her. Pursuing what she considers to be one of the most fascinating fields of modern science, Fariya is majoring in psychology and minoring in cognitive science. More specifically, she is drawn to clinical psychology and is currently studying electrophysiology in patients with schizophrenia in Professor Chen’s lab.

Alexis Oseiwusu (Junior)

Alexis Oseiwusu’s family is originally from Ghana, West Africa. She was born in Inglewood, CA and moved to Danbury, CT when she was in the sixth grade. While Alexis studied at Danbury High School, her mother returned to school for a degree in nursing. This piqued Alexis’s interest in the health fields, which she pursued further by taking part in UConn’s Health Career Opportunity Programs’ (HCOP) Mini-Medical/Dental School, where she listened to different types of physicians and surgeons lecture about their fields. She shadowed on the Labor and Delivery floor of Danbury Hospital, witnessing three Cesarean sections and assisting as a baby nurse in the NICU. While at Danbury Hospital, Alexis took part in research on Kangaroo Care, a skin-to-skin method of care between an infant and parent. Her long-term goal is to be a neonatal nurse practitioner.

Donna Aranibar is originally from Lima, Peru though she’s lived for the past 10 years in Glastonbury, CT where she graduated from Glastonbury High School. She will be attending UConn in the fall as a biology and anthropology major. Donna has been involved in a variety of UConn’s Health Career Opportunity Programs (HCOP), including Jumpstart, Junior Doctors Academy, Senior Doctors Academy, and the Pre-College Enrichment Program. Each program renewed and increased her interest in medicine. This past year, Donna competed in the Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair, where she was recognized as a first honors finalist and won a special award from the University of Connecticut’s Physics department.

Fall 2012-Spring 2014: An Exploratory Pilot of Factors Associated with Premenstrual Syndrome in Minority Women

By Mallory Perry; Michelle Judge, PhD, RD; Deborah D. McDonald, PhD, RN

Research evidence is limited in relation to the difference between minority populations and White Americans in regards to premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms.  Though no research has been done directly on PMS variances, studies on amount and duration of menstrual cycles do show that there is a significant difference between ethnic groups.  The aims for this research are to explore factors associated with PMS in minority women and to compare PMS symptom response of minority and nonminority women to diet supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids.

This descriptive correlational retrospective pilot expands on preliminary data collected from a double blind placebo study testing the effects of omega-3 fatty acids supplementation on PMS symptoms.  Participants were instructed to fill out the Moos Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (MMDQ) throughout their 5 months of participation.  The first 2 months of the study were designed to graph the participant’s baseline and starting with month 3, the participants were instructed to begin supplementation (either Omega-3 or placebo, wheat germ oil).   For the current study, mean PMS scores from the MMDQ will be obtained from minority women who were in the intervention group (omega-3) and will be compared with non-minority women who were also in the intervention group.  Within group (minority) and between group differences (minority v. non-minority) will be explored.  A better understanding of contributing factors to PMS symptoms as well as ethnic variances, will allow healthcare providers to provide treatment to sufferers of PMS symptoms based on their specific needs.

Summer-Fall 2013: Assessing the Validity and Reliability of the 2012 NHANES Chemosensory Component

By Mallory Honda, Shristi Rawal, Dr. Valerie Duffy

In 2012, the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) added a new chemosensory component to assess the prevalence of taste and smell disorders at a national level. NHANES is a nationally-representative survey of the U.S. population based on questionnaires and measures taken at mobile examination centers (MECs). The chemosensory component includes collection of self-reported data as well as taste and smell assessments carried out by researchers. Because the sense of taste is redundant (carried by many cranial nerves), reported loss of taste is rare and often actually due to decreased sense of smell which is much more liable to damage through aging, injury, or infection.

Beginning in the summer of 2013, I have been working with graduate student Shristi Rawal and Dr. Valerie Duffy to assess the validity and reliability of the chemosensory component. The NHANES Pocket Smell Test (8-item scratch and sniff test) was compared to an olfactometer (machine which produces 40 odorants), and the use of quinine as a suprathreshold measure of overall taste ability was compared to PROP (a known suprathreshold tastant) and other solutions. Taste and smell disorders are important to investigate, as they can impact dietary preferences and ingestive behaviors. Supertasters show lower intake of bitter foods, such as alcohol and vegetables, while those with chemosensory disorders are likely to have increased intake of high fat-sweet foods, alcohol, and sugar, linked with obesity, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers. Very little research has been conducted on chemosensory disorders at an epidemiological level, and the component will help to give an idea of the prevalence, impact, and possible interventions for such disorders.