by Callie Rainosek
Graduate Student & Postdoctoral Research: Highlights from the Symposium
BIMS Ph.D. student, Diarra Williams (right) presenting to Dr. Weston Porter. The 2016 Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Research Symposium at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVM), which was held Jan. 27 and 28, 2016, featured more than 80 platform and poster presentations—a record number of participants. A banquet and awards dinner at Pebble Creek Country Club honored participants and recognized the top poster and platform presentations.
Amanda Blake Amanda Blake, a graduate student researcher mentored by Dr. Jan Suchodolski, tied for second place for her poster presentation that examined exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI) in dogs. Her research project included measuring lactate and lactic acid–producing bacteria in the feces of dogs with EPI to better understand canine intestinal dysbiosis, a microbial imbalance inside a dog’s intestine. EPI develops when the pancreas fails to produce enough digestive enzymes. A lack of these enzymes can affect a dog’s gastrointestinal system and can cause weight loss and chronic diarrhea. Blake hopes her research can lead to new future therapeutic treatment options for dogs with EPI. “It took a lot of hard work; long hours working in the lab; and a little blood, sweat, and tears to accomplish the goals
of this project,” she said. “My mentor, Dr. Suchodolski, was a huge source of encouragement throughout the process, and I plan to continue this research with him in the gastrointestinal lab.”
Megha Bijalwan Graduate Student Megha Bijalwan tied for second place with her poster presentation, which focused on epilepsy, a common neurological disorder. The cause of epilepsy is often unknown, but brain injuries or infections in the central nervous system can contribute to formation of the disease. “There is currently only symptomatic treatment available for epilepsy, but these treatments may have several neurological side effects or may not be effective in some patients. Thus, there is a strong case for developing improved therapeutic agents, and understanding the disease is of utmost importance,” Bijalwan explained. Bijalwan studied clinical symptoms of epilepsy in experimental models and identified the role of a specific immune gene involved in virus-induced epilepsy. “Suppression of this gene reduces central nervous system inflammation and significantly decreases frequency and severity of seizures in our experimental model,” she said. Winter 2017 •
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