vesicles in transferring serum resistance-associated protein (SRA) between different subspecies of Trypanosoma brucei. At present, our findings show that cell-cell communication, mediated by EVs, can alter the pathogenicity of African trypanosomes through the transfer of SRA and may help explain the observation of mixed human infection between pathogenic and nonpathogenic African trypanosome subspecies. I presented these results at the CURO Symposium, and this work is included in a manuscript, of which I am a co-author, published in Cell. “My experience in the Hajduk lab was very rewarding. Any setback faced was an opportunity to hone my creativity and problem solving abilities, sparking discussion and collaboration with others. Dedicating many hours a day fully immersing myself in experiments and literature was no chore as I followed the trail of hypothesis driven questions. However, my strongest interest was in understanding the causes and progression of cancer. Through two competitive summer internship programs, I followed this interest. Summer 2014, I worked in the lab of Dr. William Carroll at NYU Langone Medical Center conducting research on acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). My project investigated whether relapse-specific mutations found in the gene NT5C1B conferred resistance to nucleoside analogue therapies used in ALL maintenance treatment. I presented this work at the Leadership Alliance National Symposium and was awarded top marks in all categories. While results showed this mutation did not affect chemosensitivity, I had never been more enthralled with a topic, and I knew I wanted to continue delving into the underlying causes of cancer with the hope that my research could directly translate into medical advances. “The following summer, I further explored translational cancer research in the lab of Dr. Ross Levine through an internship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. My project, with Dr. Lindsay LaFave as my mentor, focused on investigating the collaborative role of JAK2V617F and ASXL1 loss in myeloid disease transformation. “Experience in multiple labs has exposed me to a large variety of techniques that are prevalent in my chosen field, allowing me to conduct both in vitro and in vivo research. It has also helped refine my future research interests. Moving forward I plan to pursue a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology with the goal of uncovering knowledge about the genetic basis of different cancers in order to identify additional therapeutic targets that limit toxicities.”
Kelsey Lowery ’16 – German, Linguistics “I came to UGA knowing that I wanted to do research. It just ended up being nothing like what I expected or what I thought I wanted. But that’s one of UGA’s great strengths as an undergraduate research university – even if, like me, you completely change direction halfway through your college career, there will still be great professors who want to work with you and amazing research opportunities open to you. “I entered UGA intending to major in biotechnology. For a number of reasons and after a lot of deliberation, I switched to a major in German at the start of junior year. Big jump, I know. But fortunately for me, my faculty mentor, Dr. Martin Kagel from UGA’s German Department, was there to help me with the transition. I started doing research during my very first semester as a German major. “I spent the summer before junior year in Germany, taking a course on business language in Duesseldorf. More than just a refresher class, it solidified confidence in my decision, and allowed me to hit the ground running that fall when I returned to UGA and began research on an author with whom I was already familiar, Bertolt
Foundation Fellows & R a m se y Honor s S chol ar s A nnual R ep ort
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