Chemistry and Biochemistry News

The S3RP students are on another field trip! This trip was to visit two Biomedical Engineering Labs at George Mason University, with a side trip to Great Falls, an area where the Potomac River flows rapidly over steep rocks through the Mather Gorge.

Dr. Tiphanie Raffegeau and Dr. Quentin Sanders gave everyone a tour of their labs, the SMART lab and the Empower lab respectively. Dr. Raffegeau’s lab is investigating the relationship be between arousal (fear) and falling while walking. They use a VR system to simulate walking on a narrow walkway at different elevations, as high up as 30 feet. Dr. Sanders’ lab is developing an an rehabilitation/assistive exoskeleton for individuals with weakness and paralysis resulting from neurological disorders like stroke.

The summer research students visited the Observatory at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County this week where they were able to climb to the top, experience a telescope demonstration, and hear a current research talk about the observatory from undergraduate students like themselves. The UMBC Observatory Group is built of faculty, staff, and interested students who work to maintain the facility and administer its mission. The observatory is equipped with a DFM Telescope, one of the largest in the Eastern half of the United States, that has been in operation since 2000.

Chemistry senior Tamar Singman is completing her Capstone Internship as part of the Nathan Schnaper Internship Program at the University of Maryland Baltimore’s School of Pharmacy. There Tamar is taking part in an ongoing translational cancer research project aimed at the study of inhibitors of cancer-promoting protein kinases. She has enjoyed being a part of something with the potential to be hugely impactful and has been amazed by just how complex and detailed the field of cancer research is. This is Tamar’s third research experience and is still eager to try other areas, to be certain of her future path.

Paige Leszynski is a Biochemistry senior who is also pursuing the Master’s in Forensic science. Her Capstone internship this summer is at the New Jersey State Police Crime Lab in the Trace Evidence unit. This unit is responsible for the analysis of several different types of trace physical evidence: paint, footprints, glass, and low-level explosives. She is working with other interns at the lab to collect and process known automotive paint sampes to submit to the Paint Data Query database, a record of automotive paint samples that have been analyzed to identify the subject vehicle’s manufacturer, make, model, and year. A second project by the interns is the Footwear Impression Coding Project (FRCG), where they submit impressions and photos of the front side and soles of different shoes for the Foster and Freeman SoleMate FPX database. Paige has been enjoying her time there, has confirmed her goal of a forensic career, and is learning so much.

Stevenson Summer Science Research Scholars and mentors attended the MidAtlantic Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society last week in Pennsylvania. (L-R) Dr. Tim Dwyer, Alyssa Reddy, Cara Guagenti, Chloe Seluchins, and Dr. Matt Hudson attented the meeting at Penn State University in University Park, PA. The theme of the meeting was “Celebrating Discovery”, and the 250th anniversary of the work of Joseph Priestly was featured. The students enjoyed listenting to the presentations, meeting different vendors and getting lots of free stuff! They were suprised how drilled down chemistry can be, the farther you go into it. The keynote speaker’s talk was a favorite.