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Undergraduate Research
Legislative Session ST U D E N T R E S E A R C H S H O WC A S E D F O R N E W YO R K STAT E L AW M A K E R S
Two ACP students had an opportunity to present their research at the Legislative Office Building in Albany in January 2008 at the inaugural Undergraduate Research Exposition sponsored by the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities. The expo brought together college students, faculty and New York State legislators to share the experiences of stu-
Efforts to understand the complexities of human brain development and cancer benefit from studies of simpler organisms such as fruit flies.
dents engaged in research and scholarship. The event showcased the research of 70 student teams from 28 private colleges in New York State. Pharm.D. student Michael Dobis ’08, working with faculty members John Polimeni, Ph.D., Leon Cosler ’82, Ph.D. and Ray Chandrasekara, Ph.D., presented findings on water quality issues stemming from the disposal of over-thecounter and prescription drugs (see full article page 24). Third-year pharmaceutical sciences student Neil Mandalaywala shared his research on the tumor suppressor VDUP-1 (vitamin D3 up-regulated protein 1), which is inactivated in many cancers. His work with Assistant Professor Richard Dearborn Jr., Ph.D., found that VDUP-1 participates in brain development in both fruit flies and humans — observations that identified new ways to control expression of this anti-cancer protein. Randall Snyder ’09 and Solomon Chang ’11, both Pharm.D. students, co-authored the paper. Neil also presented
their
research in the fall at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in Long Island.
Internationally
renowned,
CSHL researches cancer, neurobiology, plant genetics and bioinformatics and is one of 63 institutions supported by the Cancer Centers Program of the National Cancer Institute.
Neil Mandalaywala presented his findings at the Undergraduate Research Expo at the Legislative Office Building in Albany.