College of Arts & Sciences
College of Nursing & Health Professions
PREVENTING CHILDHOOD OBESITY
Hai Duong Nursing
Dr. Renee Turchi Faculty Mentor School of Public Health Community Health & Prevention
104
Many patients face the challenge of being overwhelmed with information while feeling powerless as to go about their newfound situation. They know what to do; the next step is how to do it. It is no longer breaking news that obesity is a huge problem in the United States and more so in children. Its prevalence remains in families with low incomes. With resources already established in the community, the task becomes to connect these families. By charting the community, validating resources, and developing an online database, information can be gathered to be delivered to informed patients ready to take action. Patients will become more esteemed to adopt more nutritious diets and work towards more active lifestyles. After setting foot out into the community, the online database will be more occupied with resources ready for inquisitors to utilize and become a tool used by caregivers, patients, and the general public alike to be more aware of the resources already present in our neighborhoods.
STAR Scholars Summer Showcase 2011
THE ROLE OF CALCINEURIN IN A DROSOPHILA MODEL OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE Our lab has developed a transgenic model of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) by expressing the wild type human forms of both APP and BACE within the CNS of Drosophila melanogaster. These transgenes, combined with Drosophila’s endogenous functional homolog of the gamma‐secretase complex, recapitulates the amyloidogenic proteolytic processing that occurs in AD brains. Calcineurin has been implicated in the pathology and progression of neurodegeneration in AD brains. We have used our transgenic APP:BACE Drosophila to test the role of calcineurin in AD using both RNAi knockdown and pharmacological techniques. Drosophila exhibit negative geotaxis by climbing upwards when tapped to the bottom of a vial, and disruption of this stereotyped response is indicative of nervous system dysfunction. Calcineurin inhibitors administered via feeding improve the impaired motor re lexbehavior observed in the APP:BACE lies. RNAi‐mediated knockdown of calcineurin in the APP:BACE Drosophila model also partially suppresses the defective climbing behavior. These studies emphasize the utility of this model for dissecting the molecular mechanism of neurodegeneration, as well as testing possible pharmacological interventions in an in vivo system.
STAR Scholars Summer Showcase 2011
Neha Arjunji Biological Sciences
Dr. Aleister Saunders Faculty Mentor Biology
17