(Press-News.org)
Student researchers from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) participated in the 37th Student Research Week Feb. 26-28. Organized by the TTUHSC Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Student Research Week is an opportunity for TTUHSC student investigators to showcase their work and hear presentations from distinguished national speakers related to the year’s theme.
The Department of Cell Physiology and Molecular Biophysics hosted the 2025 event. The Student Research Week committee chose “Let’s Get Biophysical” as the theme for 2025. A playful twist on the 1980s song “Let's Get Physical,” the theme highlights the host department's focus on biophysical techniques, particularly in membrane protein research, and emphasizes the use of biophysical methods to explore membrane proteins.
Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences students Megan Skains and Nghi (Skyler) Tran served as co-executive directors for 2025. Other officers included Alexis Rodriguez (vice director of marketing), Caezaan Keshvani (vice director of poster competition) and Philip Antwi-Adje (vice director of operations).
Skains said 80 abstracts were submitted for 2025, which is an increase from last year. The committee also continued its lightning talk sessions, a feature that was added to Student Research Week last year. An extra lighting talk session was added for 2025 due to high demand.
“Each year, we see an increase in the number of abstract submissions, and this year was no exception,” Skains said. “Additionally, we had a notable rise in lightning talk submissions, reflecting both the growing interest in the event and the high quality of the research being presented.”
For the lightning talks, Skains said more than 40 students expressed interest and 12 were selected to present, highlighting the competitive and dynamic nature of the event.
“We also had an increase in vendors with 22 participating in the vendor show,” Skains added. “This was a great opportunity for students and faculty to see products and services offered by different biotech companies.”
Keynote speakers for 2025 included Daniel L. Minor Jr., Ph.D., a professor working in the Cardiovascular Research Institute and the Departments of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco; and Rajini Rao, Ph.D., a professor of physiology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
Minor’s research focuses on the structure, chemical biology and biogenesis of ion channels and exploring the origins of toxin resistance mechanisms. Rao, a long-standing advocate for women in science, centers her research on the role of ion transporters (including secretory pathway Calcium ATPases and endosomal sodium-hydrogen exchangers) in human disorders ranging from cancer to neurodegeneration.
The annual poster competition is a highlight of every Student Research Week, and there were 80 entries for the 2025 contest. Winners in the Student Research Week Poster Competition for 2025 included:
Lorenz O. Lutherer, M.D., Ph.D., Clinical Research Award
Kailin Opella
Undergraduate Division (Sponsored by CISER):
1st Place: Elizabeth Jeffrey
2nd Place: Eli Heath
Medical Education:
1st Place: Tiva Kasemsri, M.D.
Academic Excellence Award: Josue Del Castillo
Clinical Research (Division I)
1st Place: Aisha DeSouza
2nd Place: Neha Prathivadi
Clinical Research (Division II)
1st Place: Sai Pranathi Bingi
2nd Place: Katelyn Lunini
3rd Place: Rishi Patel
Bench/Basic Research I
1st Place (Bette B. Chilton Award): Javaria Baig
2nd Place: Sofia Altamirano
Bench/Basic Research II
1st Place: Abdul Shaik
2nd Place: Kseniia Orobets
3rd Place: Amanda Garcia
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Ghent, Belgium, 10 March 2025 – New research from an international team of plant biologists, led by researchers at the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, has revealed crucial insights into the role brassinosteroids – essential plant hormones – play in regulating cell division and growth. The findings, published in Cell, provide a comprehensive understanding of how these hormones influence development at the cellular level.
Plants on steroids
Brassinosteroids are vital hormones for plants, which influence ...
The opioid epidemic has claimed more than half a million lives in the U.S. since 1999, about three-quarters of them men, according to the National Institutes of Health. Although men’s disproportionate rates of opioid abuse and overdose deaths are well-documented, the reasons for this gender disparity are not well understood.
A new study in rats by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that one underlying cause may be biological. Male rats in chronic pain gave themselves increasing doses of an opioid – specifically, fentanyl – over ...
About The Study: While practitioner supply increased overall, the Dobbs decision was associated with moderate but significant relative decreases in obstetrics and gynecology practitioners in the most restrictive vs control states. Findings provide early confirmation of reports that clinicians have migrated from states most impacted by the Dobbs decision. Clinician migration has implications for reproductive care access, quality, and equity as abortion rights are increasingly decided at the state level.
Corresponding ...
About The Study: An early-life responsive parenting intervention resulted in lower body mass index from age 3 to 9 compared with a control intervention. This group difference was driven by effects on female participants, with differences appearing to dissipate over time. A life-course approach may be required to sustain the benefits of early-life responsive parenting interventions for obesity prevention.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Ian M. Paul, MD, MSc, email ipaul@psu.edu.
To access ...
About The Study: The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with varying developmental health outcomes in kindergarteners. Negative developmental trends existed immediately before the pandemic, with most persisting or slowing post-pandemic onset. These results highlight troubling trends in kindergarteners’ development, both before and during the pandemic, and more information is needed to understand why developmental outcomes are worsening over time.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Judith L. Perrigo, PhD, LCSW, email jperrigo@luskin.ucla.edu.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The ...
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have successfully developed a supercharged iteration of CAR-T cell therapy that can enhance the effectiveness and longevity of the cells, particularly against cancer cells that are harder for prior CAR-T therapies to detect and fight.
The study was published today in the journal Cancer Cell.
“This next-generation approach, called ALA-CART (adjunctive LAT-activating CAR-T cells), optimizes CAR-T cells to more effectively eliminate cancer cells, including those that ...
EMBARGOED: NOT FOR RELEASE UNTIL 11:00 US ET on MONDAY, MAR. 10, 2025
CONTACT: John Maufort, jpmaufort@wisc.edu
Scientists create a universal vascular graft with stem cells to improve surgery for cardiovascular disease
MADISON — Scientists at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center (WNPRC) and the Morgridge Institute for Research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have been at the forefront of stem cell research and regenerative biology since James Thomson isolated the first human embryonic stem cell in 1998.
The ...
Users of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok might think they’re simply interacting with friends, family and followers, and seeing ads as they go. But according to research from the UBC Sauder School of Business, they’re part of constant marketing experiments that are often impossible, even for the companies behind them, to fully comprehend.
For the study, the researchers examined all known published, peer-reviewed studies of the use of A/B testing by Facebook and Google — that is, when different consumers are shown different ads to determine which are ...
In the ever-evolving landscape of wireless communication, security remains a paramount concern. A recent study published in Engineering delves into the realm of intelligent covert communication, exploring its latest advancements and future research trends.
Covert communication, also known as low probability of detection (LPD) communication, is a technique that aims to conceal the existence of communication, thereby safeguarding private information. As the volume of private data transmitted via wireless systems continues to soar in the big data era, the need for ...
LOS ANGELES – March 10, 2025 – Stand Up To Cancer® (SU2C) today announced changes to its Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), which is composed of cancer research leaders from academic, government, industry and advocacy fields. The SAC oversees SU2C’s scientific research in collaboration with SU2C’s president and CEO Julian Adams, Ph.D.
The new SAC members are:
Scott A. Armstrong, M.D., Ph.D., SVP for drug discovery and chief research strategy officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and David G. Nathan professor of pediatrics at Harvard ...
