Amanda Vo (left) and Graham Davis, pre-law majors, built a database that documents the amount of money new law school graduates may have to pay up front to practice in different areas of law.
Altman, an animal behaviorist researcher, has seen those benefits in the lives of graduates. “The foundational skills of research are the same skills employers want — being able to work in teams, communicate complex findings and make a compelling argument for your work,” she says. “I once had a student conducting very high level research, but her project title was a mouthful. I kept asking her why it was important. It took four “whys” before she got to ‘potential cures for cancer.’ “That’s what our program does for students. It teaches them how to conduct the research, but also how to convey the ‘why’ first and foremost so they can present their work to people who are different from them.”
A CULTURE OF SCHOLARLY LEARNING
And HPU begins that process earlier than other institutions. “Senior capstone and research projects are common, but no one else is doing this with freshmen. We welcome them immediately into a culture of scholarly learning,” Altman says.
HPU’s approach has depth and breadth, too. Undergraduate science students conduct research in labs on campus, while English majors can examine literary theory, theater majors can produce creative works, and a wealth of other majors, such as business or communication, can implement studies on campus or in the community like Lee did with narrative storytelling.
RELEVANT RESEARCH Here is a sampling of recent scholarly research achievements from faculty. CANCER CELL BIOLOGY – Dr. Kevin Suh, assistant professor of biology, is growing prostate cancer cells in his lab and treating them with natural compounds that can be found in fruits and vegetables. Previously, scientists found that a natural compound called fisetin, which can be found in strawberries, can kill these cancer cells, but not normal prostate cells. His goal is to find the mechanism that leads to the cancer cell death.
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STRENUOUS ACTIVITY AT HIGH ALTITUDE – Dr. Matt Kuennen, assistant professor of exercise science, is conducting research in HPU’s state-of-the-art Human Biomechanics and Physiology Lab to determine if gastrointestinal barrier permeability is increased when people perform work or exercise at altitude. Gastrointestinal barrier permeability is known to drive the pathogenesis of exertional heat stroke. He suspects that exercise at altitude creates a hypoxic environment in the gut that feeds forward to cause gastrointestinal barrier permeability. This could have profound implications on our understanding of altituderelated disorders like acute and chronic mountain sickness.